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BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 





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BEFORE AND AFTER 
WATERLOO 

LETTERS 

FROM 

EDWARD STANLEY |£^.^//2f:^fdfi^ 

SOMETIME BISHOP OF NORWICH ^ 

(1802; 1814; 1816) 



EDITED BY JANE H'y ADEAIJE AND MAUD GRENFELL 



NEW YORK 

D. APPLETON & COMPANY 

1908 



o 






First Edition 
Second Impression 



1907 
1908 



EXCH.\NOB 

7 

APR 23 1942 

ACC£SS10I<S DIVISION' 



(A// ri^/ih- reserved.) 



V 

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ECHOES OF PAST DAYS 



AT 



ALDERLEY RECTORY 



CONTENTS 

FAGS 

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF EDWARD STANLEY . . 9 

CHAPTER I 
NEW FRANCE AND OLD EUROPE . . . .25 

CHAPTER II 
AFTER napoleon's FALL . . . . -73 

CHAPTER III 
UNDER THE BOURBON FLAG . . . . -97 

CHAPTER IV 
ON THE TRACK OF NAPOLEON'S ARMY . . . 144 

CHAPTER V 
THE LOW COUNTRIES . . . . "199 

CHAPTER VI 
THE WATERLOO YEAR , , . . , 235 

CHAPTER VII 
AFTER WATERLOO ...... 247 



The originals of most of the letters now publislted are^ 
with the drawings that illustrate them, at Llanfawr, 
Holyhead. 

Some extracts from these letters have already appeared 
in the '"'' Early Married Life of Maria Josepha, Lady Stanley" 
but are here inserted again by kind permission of Messrs, 
Longman, and complete Bishop Stanley's correspondence. 

Portions of letters quoted in Dean Stanleys volume, 
^^ Edward and Catherine Stanley," have also been used 
with Messrs. Murray's consent. 

In addition to the MSS. at Llanfawr, Lord Stanley of 
Alder ley has kindly contributed some original letters in his 
possession. 

/. H. A. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



"LE COURIER DU RHIN " .... 

Sketch brought to England 1814 by General Scott of Thor^pe, 
one of the detenus in France for ten years after the rupture 
of the Peace of Amiens, mentioned page 73. 

BISHOP STANLEY ..... 
By John Linnell. From a drawing in the possession of 
Canon J. Hugh Way, Henbury. 

MARGARET OWEN, LADY STANLEY 

From a miniature in the possession of Lady Reade- 
Carregtwyd, Anglesey. 

"flight of INTELLECT" .... 
Humorous sketch by E. Stanley. 

EDWARD STANLEY, 1800 .... 
By P. Green. The original in the possession of Lord Stanley 
of Alder ley, at Penrhos, Anglesey. 

THE PRISON OF THE TEMPLE 

Sketch by E. Stanley, 1802. 

THE GUILLOTINE AT CHALON-SUR-SAONE 
Sketch by E. Stanley. 

LORD SHEFFIELD . . . . j . 

By Sir Joshua Reynolds, P.R.A. From an engraving in the 
possession of J. H. Adeane, Lanfawr, Holyhead. 

KITTY LEYCESTER, MRS. EDWARD STANLEY 

From a drawing by H. Edridge, A.R.A., at Alderley Park, 
Clieshire. 

PARIS, 1 8 14. OLD BRIDGE AND CHATELET 

E. Stanley. 

PARIS, LA POMPE, NOTRE DAME . . 

E.S. 

PARISIAN AMUSEMENTS 
E. S. 

THE CATACOMBS, PARIS .... 
E. S. 

LAON. HOUSES AND TOWER, 1814 
E. S. 

BERRY AU BAC ..... 

E. S. 



Frontispiece 

To face page 2 
10 

25 



31 p- 



82 



<^ 



108 "^ 

115 i 

141 ^ ' 

143 ^^ 
t6i^ 
164 '^ 



BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 



VERDUN. BRIDGE ..... 
E. Stanley. 

FRENCH DILIGENCE .... 

E. S. 

DUTCH SHIPS ..... 

E. S. 

DUTCH DILIGENCE ON BOARD A BOAT . 
E.S. 

GOAT CARRIAGE FOR THE LITTLE KING OF ROME 
E. S. 



DUTCH TABLE D'HOTE 
E. S. 

OLD HOUSES, SAARDAM 
E. S. 

PETER THE GREAT'S HOUSE, SAARDAM 
E. S. 

DUTCH FISHERMEN . 
E. S. 

DUTCH CARRIAGE . 
E. S. 

CORN MILLS AT VERNON . 
E. S. 

FRENCH CABRIOLET 
E. S. 

HOUGOUMONT 
E. S. 

INTERIOR OF HOUGOUMONT 
E. S. 

LA BELLE ALLIANCE 
E. S. 

WATERLOO . 

E. S. 

GHENT. ST. NICHOLAS 
E. S. 

PORTE DE HALLE, BRUSSELS, LEADING TO WATERLOO 

E. S. 

PARISIAN RATCATCHER AND ITINERANT VENDORS 

E. S. 

THE GREAT GREEN COACH .... 
E. S. 

ALDERLEV RECTORY 



To face page i6S 



193 

199* 

219' 

223' 

226 

228 



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230 »* 


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233' 


11 


234!/ 


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247 ^ 


11 


260*^ 


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263" 


11 


265 ^ 


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267^ 


11 


270 ' 


11 


274^ 


11 


inbt^ 


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300 ' 


11 


306.-^ 


page 308 ^ 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF EDWARD STANLEY 

THE letters which are collected in this volume 
were written from abroad during the opening 
years of the nineteenth century, at three different 
periods : after the Peace of Amiens in 1802 and 
1 803, after the Peace of Paris in 18 14, and in the 
year following Waterloo, June, 181 6. 

The writer, Edward Stanley, was for thirty-three 
years an active country clergyman, and for twelve 
years more a no less active bishop, at a time when 
such activity was uncommon, though not so rare 
as is sometimes now supposed. 

Although a member of one of the oldest Cheshire 
families, he did not share the opinions of his county 
neighbours on public questions, and his voice was 
fearlessly raised on behalf of causes which are now 
triumphant, and against abuses which are now for- 
gotten, but which acutely needed champions and 
reformers a hundred years ago. 

His foreign journeys, and more especially the 
first of them, had a large share in determining the 
opinions which he afterwards maintained against 
great opposition from many of his own class and 
profession. The sight of France still smarting 
under the effects of the Reign of Terror, and of 



10 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

other countries still sunk in Medisevalism, helped to 
make him a Liberal with "a passion for reform and 
improvement, but without a passion for destruction." 

He was born in 1779, the second son and youngest 
child of Sir John Stanley, the Squire of Alderley 
in Cheshire, and of his wife Margaret Owen (the 
Welsh heiress of Penrhos in Holyhead Island), who 
was one of the " seven lovely Peggies," well known 
in Anglesey society in the middle of the eighteenth 
century. 

The pictures of Edward Stanley and his mother, 
which still hang on the walls of her Anglesey home, 
show that he inherited the brilliant Welsh colouring, 
marked eyebrows and flashing dark eyes that 
gave force as well as beauty to her face. From 
her, too, came the romantic Celtic imagination and 
fiery energy which enabled him to find interests 
everywhere, and to make his mark in a career 
which was not the one he would have chosen. 

"In early years" (so his son the Dean of 
Westminster records) " he had acquired a passion 
for the sea, which he cherished down to the time 
of his entrance at college, and which never left him 
through life. It first originated, as he believed, in 
the delight which he experienced, when between 
three and four years of age, on a visit to the seaport 
of Weymouth ; and long afterwards he retained a 
vivid recollection of the point where he caught the 
first sight of a ship, and shed tears because he was 
not allowed to go on board. So strongly was he 
possessed by the feeling thus acquired, that as a 




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A BORN SAILOR 11 

child he used to leave his bed and sleep on the 
shelf of a wardrobe, for the pleasure of imagining 
himself in a berth on board a man-of-war. . . . The 
passion was overruled by circumstances beyond his 
control, but it gave a colour to his whole after-life. 
He never ceased to retain a keen interest in every- 
thing relating to the navy. ... He seemed instinc- 
tively to know the history, character, and state of 
every ship and every officer in the service. Old 
naval captains were often astonished at finding in 
him a more accurate knowledge than their own of 
when, where, how, and under whom, such and such 
vessels had been employed. The stories of begging 
impostors professing to be shipwrecked seamen 
were detected at once by his cross-examinations. 
The sight of a ship, the society of sailors, the 
embarkation on a voyage, were always sufficient 
to inspirit and delight him wherever he might be." 

His life, when at his mother's home on the 
Welsh coast, only increased this liking, and till he 
went to Cambridge in 1798 his education had not 
been calculated to prepare him for a clerical life. 
He never received any instruction in classics ; of 
Greek and Latin and mathematics he knew nothing, 
and owing to his schools and tutors being constantly 
changed, his general knowledge was of a desultory 
sort. 

His force of character, great perseverance and 
ambition to excel are shown in the strenuous manner 
in which he overcame all these obstacles, and at 
the close of his college career at St. John's, Cam- 



12 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

bridge, became a wrangler in the Mathematical 
Tripos of 1802. 

After a year passed in foreign travel Edward 
Stanley returned home at his brother's request, and 
took command of the Alderley Volunteers — a corps 
of defence raised by him on the family estate in 
expectation of a French invasion. 

In 1803 he was ordained and became curate of 
Windlesham, in Surrey. There he remained until 
he was presented by his father in 1805 to the 
living of Alderley, where he threw himself enthusi- 
astically into his work. 

Alderley parish had long been neglected, and 
there was plenty of scope for the young Rector. 

Before he came, the clerk used to go to the 
churchyard stile to see whether there were any 
more coming to church, for there were seldom 
enough to make a congregation, but before Edward 
Stanley left, his parish was one of the best organised 
of the day. He set on foot schemes of education 
throughout the county as well as at Alderley, and 
was foremost in all reforms. 

The Chancellor of the diocese wrote of him : 
*' He inherited from his family strong Whig prin- 
ciples, which he always retained, and he never 
shrank from advocating those maxims of toleration 
which at that time formed the chief watchwords of 
the Whig party." 

He was the first who distinctly saw and boldly 
advocated the advantages of general education for 
the people, and set the example of the extent to 



A CHESHIRE PRIZE FIGHT 13 

which general knowledge might be communicated 
in a parochial school. 

** To analyse the actual effects of his ministrations 
on the people would be difficult, . . . but the general 
result was what might have been expected. Dis- 
sent was all but extinguished. The church was 
filled, the communicants many." 

He helped to found a Clerical Society, which 
promoted friendly intercourse with clergy holding 
various views, and was never afraid of avowing his 
opinions on subjects he thought vital, lest he should 
in consequence become unpopular. 

He grudged no trouble about anything he under- 
took, and the people rejoiced when they heard " the 
short, quick tramp of his horse's feet as he went 
galloping up their lanes." The sick were visited 
and cheered, and the children kindly cared for in 
and out of school. 

It was said of him that " whenever there was a 
drunken fight in the village and he knew of it, he 
would always come out to stop it — there was such 
a spirit in him." 

Tidings were once brought to him of a riotous 
crowd, which had assembled to witness a desperate 
prize fight, adjourned to the outskirts of his parish, 
and which the respectable inhabitants were unable 
to disperse. " The whole field " (so one of the 
humbler neighbours represented it) " was filled and 
all the trees round about, when in about a quarter 
of an hour I saw the Rector coming up the road 
on his little black horse as quick as lightning, and 



m BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

I trembled for fear they should harm him. He rode 
into the field and just looked round as if he thought 
the same, to see who there was that would be on 
his side. But it was not needed ; he rode into the 
midst of the crowd and in one moment it was all 
over. There was a great calm ; the blows stopped ; 
it was as if they would all have wished to cover 
themselves up in the earth. All from the trees 
they dropped down directly. No one said a word 
and all went away humbled." 

The next day the Rector sent for the two men, 
not to scold them, but to speak to them, and sent 
them each away with a Bible. The effect on the 
neighbourhood was very great, and put a stop to 
the practice which had been for some time pre- 
valent in the adjacent districts. 

His influence was increased by his early know-* 
ledge of the people, and by the long connection of 
his family with the place. 

Two years after Edward had accepted the incum- 
cency, his father died in London, but he had long 
before given up living in Cheshire, and Alderley 
Park had been occupied at his desire by his eldest 
son, afterwards Sir John, who had made his home 
there since his marriage in 1796. 

Both the Stanley brothers married remarkable 
women. Lady Maria Josepha Holroyd, Sir John's 
wife, was the elder daughter of the first Lord 
Sheffield, the friend and biographer of Gibbon, 
and her strong personality impressed every one 
who met her. 



"KITTY LEYCESTER" 15 

Catherine, wife of the Rector, was the daughter of 
the Rev. Oswald Leycester, of Stoke Rectory, in 
Shropshire. Her father was one of the Leycesters 
of Toft House, only a few miles from Alderley, and 
at Toft most of Catherine's early years were spent. 
She was engaged to Edward Stanley before she 
was seventeen, but did not marry him till nearly 
two years later, in 1810. 

During the interval she spent some time in 
London with Sir John and Lady Maria Stanley, 
and in the literary society of the opening years of 
the nineteenth century she was much sought after 
for her charm and appreciativeness, and for what 
Sydney Smith called her "porcelain understanding." 
The wits and lions of the Miss Berrys' parties vied 
with each other in making much of her ; Rogers 
and Scott delighted in her conversation — in short, 
every one agreed, as her sister-in-law Maria wrote, 
that " in Kitty Leycester Edward will indeed have 
a treasure." 

After her marriage she kept up with her friends 
by active correspondence and by annual visits to 
London. Still, "to the outside world she was 
comparatively unknown ; but there was a quiet 
wisdom, a rare unselfishness, a calm discrimination, 
a firm decision which made her judgment and her 
influence felt through the whole circle in which she 
lived." Her power and charm, coupled with her 
husband's, made Alderley Rectory an inspiring 
home to their children, several of whom inherited 
talent to a remarkable degree. 



16 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

Her sister Maria ^ writes from Hodnet, the home of 
the poet Heber: "I want to know all you have been 
doing since the day that bore me away from happy 
Alderley. Oh ! the charm of a rectory inhabited 
by a Reginald Heber or an Edward Stanley ! " 

That Rectory and its surroundings have been 
perfectly described in the words of the author of 
"Memorials of a Quiet Life "2 : "A low house, with 
a verandah forming a wide balcony for the upper 
storey, where bird-cages hung among the roses ; its 
rooms and passages filled with pictures, books, and 
old carved oak furniture. In a country where the 
flat pasture lands of Cheshire rise suddenly to the 
rocky ridge of Alderley Edge, with the Holy Well 
under an overhanging cliff; its gnarled pine-trees, 
its storm-beaten beacon tower ready to give notice 
of an invasion, and looking far over the green plain 
to the smoke which indicates in the horizon the 
presence of the great manufacturing towns." 

There was constant intercourse between the Park 
and the Rectory, and the two families with a large 
circle of friends led most interesting and busy lives. 
The Rector took delight in helping his seven nieces 
with their Italian and Spanish studies, in fostering 
their love of poetry and natural history, and in 
developing the minds of his own young children. 
He wrote plays for them to act and birthday odes 
for them to recite. 

^ Maria Leycester, m. 1829 Rev. Augustus Hare. 
= "Memorials of a Quiet Life," by Augustus Hare, adopted 
son of Mrs. Augustus Hare (Maria Leycester). 



"JEUX D'ESPRIT" 17 

Legends of the countryside, domestic tragedies 
and comedies were turned into verse, whether it 
were the Cheshire legend of the Iron Gates or the 
fall of Sir John Stanley and his spectacles into the 
Alderley mere, the discovery of a butterfly or the 
loss of " a superfine piece of Bala flannel." 

His caricatures illustrated his droll ideas, as in 
his sketches of the six " Ologies from Entomology 
to Apology." His witty and graceful " Bustle's 
Banquet" or the "Dinner of the Dogs" made a 
trio with the popular poems then recently published 
of the " Butterfly's Ball " and " The Peacock at 
Home." 

"And since Insects give Balls and Birds are so gay, 
'Tis high time to prove that we Dogs have our day." 

He wrote a " Familiar History of Birds," illustrated 
by many personal observations, for throughout his 
life he never lost a chance of watching wild bird 
life. In his early days he had had special oppor- 
tunities of doing so among the rocks and caverns 
of Holyhead Island. He tells of the myriads of 
sea-birds who used to haunt the South Stack Rock 
there, in the days when it was almost inaccessible ; 
and of their dispersal by the building of the first 
lighthouse there in 1808, when for a time they 
deserted it and never returned in such numbers. 

His own family at Alderley Rectory consisted of 
three sons and two daughters. 

The eldest son, Owen, had his father's passion 
for the sea, and was allowed to follow his bent. 

2 



18 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

His scientific tastes led him to adopt the surveying 
branch of his profession, and in 1836, when ap- 
pointed to the Terror on her expedition to the 
North Seas, he had charge of the astronomical 
and magnetic operations. 

When in command of the Britomart, in 1840, 
he secured the North Island of New Zealand to 
the English by landing and hoisting the British 
flag, having heard that a party of French emigrants 
intended to land that day. They did so, but under 
the protection of the Union Jack. 

In 1846 Owen Stanley commanded the Rattle- 
snake in an important and responsible expedition 
to survey the unknown coast of New Guinea ; this 
lasted four years and was very successful, but the 
ereat strain and the shock of his brother Charles' 
death at Hobart Town, at this time, were too miich 
for him. He died suddenly on board his ship at 
Sydney in 1850, "after thirty-three years' arduous 
service in every clime." 

Professor Huxley, in whose arms he breathed his 
last, was surgeon to this expedition, and his first 
published composition was an article describing it. 
He speaks of Owen Stanley thus : " Of all those 
who were actively engaged upon the survey, the 
young commander alone was destined to be robbed 
of his just rewards ; he has raised an enduring 
monument in his works, and his epitaph shall be the 
grateful thanks of many a mariner threading his 
way among the mazes of the Coral Seas." 

The second and most distinguished of the three 



SONS AND DAUGHTERS 19 

sons was Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, of whom it was 
said "that in the wideness of his sympathies, the 
broadness of his toleration, and the generosity of his 
temperament the brilliant Dean of Westminster was 
a true son of his father, the Bishop of Norwich." 

The third son, Charles Edward, a young officer 
in the Royal Engineers, who had done good work 
in the Ordnance Survey of Wales, and was already 
high in his profession, was suddenly cut off by fever 
at his official post in Tasmania in 1849. 

The eldest daughter, Mary, had great powers 01 
organisation, was a keen philanthropist and her 
father's right hand at Norwich. In 1854 she took 
charge of a detachment of nurses who followed Miss 
Nightingale's pioneer band to the East, and worked 
devotedly for the Crimean sick and wounded at the 
hospital at Koulalee. 

Katherine, the youngest daughter, a most origi- 
nal character, married Dr. Vaughan, headmaster 
of Harrow, Master of the Temple, and Dean of 
Llandaff^ She survived her whole family and lived 
till 1899. 

The home at Alderley lasted for thirty-three years, 
during which Edward Stanley had changed the whole 
face of the parish and successfully organised many 
schemes of improvement in the conditions of the 
working classes in his neighbourhood. He could 
now leave his work to other hands, and felt that his 
energies required a wider field, so that when in 1838 
Lord Melbourne offered him the See of Norwich he 
was induced to accept the offer, though only "after 



20 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

much hesitation and after a severe struggle, which 
for a time almost broke down his usual health and 
sanguine spirit." 

" It would be vain and useless," he said, " to speak 
to others of what it cost me to leave Alderley " ; but 
to his new sphere he carried the same zeal and in- 
domitable energy which had ever characterised him, 
and gained the affection of many who had shuddered 
at the appointment of a " Liberal Bishop." 

At Norwich his work was very arduous and 
often discouraging. He came in the dawn of the 
Victorian age to attack a wall of customs and 
abuses which had arisen far back in the early 
Georgian era, with no hereditary connection or 
influence in the diocese to counteract the odium 
that he incurred as a new-comer by the institution 
of changes which he deemed necessary. 

It was no wonder that for three or four years he 
had to stem a steady torrent of prejudice and more 
or less opposition ; but though his broadminded 
views were often the subject of criticism, his bitterest 
opponents could not withstand the genial, kindly 
spirit in which he met their objections. 

"At the time of his entrance upon his office 
party feeling was much more intense than it has 
been in later years, and of this the county of 
Norfolk presented, perhaps, as strong examples as 
could be found in any part of the kingdom." 

The bishop was " a Whig in politics and a 
staunch supporter of a Whig ministry," but in all 
the various questions where politics and theology 



THE CHARTIST MOB 21 

cross one another he took the free and comprehen- 
sive instead of the precise and exclusive views, and 
to impress them on others was one chief interest 
of his new position. 

The indifference to party which he displayed, 
both in social matters and in his dealings with 
his clergy, tended to alienate extreme partisans 
of whatever section, and at one time caused him 
even to be unpopular with the lower classes of 
Norwich in spite of his sympathies. 

The courage with which the Rector had quelled 
the prize fight at Alderley shone out again in the 
Bishop. " I remember," says an eye-witness, 
" seeing Bishop Stanley, on a memorable occasion, 
come out of the Great Hall of St. Andrew's, 
Norwich. The Chartist mob, who lined the street, 
saluted the active, spare little Bishop with hooting 
and orroans. He came out alone and unattended 
till he was followed by me and my brother, deter- 
mined, as the saying is, ' to see him safe home,' 
for the mob was highly excited and brutal. Bishop 
Stanley marched along ten yards, then turned 
sharp round and fixed his eagle eyes on the mob, 
and then marched ten yards more and turned 
round again rapidly and gave the same hawk-like 
look." 

His words and actions must often have been 
startling to his contemporaries ; when temperance 
was a new cause he publicly spoke in support of 
the Roman Catholic Father Mathew, who had 
promoted it in Ireland; when the idea of any educa- 



22 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

tion for the masses was not universally accepted 
he advocated admitting the children of Dissenters 
to the National Schools ; and when the stage had 
not the position it now holds, he dared to offer 
hospitality to one of the most distinguished of its 
representatives, Jenny Lind, to mark his respect 
for her life and influence. 

For all this he was bitterly censured, but his 
kindly spirit and friendly intercourse with his clergy 
smoothed the way through apparently insurmount- 
able difficulties, and his powerful aid was ever at 
hand in any benevolent movement to advise and 
organise means of help. 

In his home at Norwich the Bishop and Mrs. 
Stanley delighted to welcome guests of every shade 
of opinion, and one of them, a member of a well- 
known Quaker family, has recorded her impression 
of her host's conversation. " The Bishop talks, 
darting from one subject to another, like one 
impatient of delay, amusing and pleasant," and he 
is described on coming to Norwich as having " a 
step as quick, a voice as firm, a power of enduring 
fatigue almost as unbroken as when he traversed 
his parish in earlier days or climbed the precipices 
of the Alps." 

In his public life the liveliness of his own interest 
in scientific pursuits, the ardour with which he 
would hail any new discovery, the vividness of 
his own observation of Nature would illustrate 
with an unexpected brilliancy the worn-out topics 
of a formal speech. Few who were present at 



A SAILORS' SERMON 23 

the meetinof when the Borneo Mission was first 
■proposed to the London public in 1847 ^^^ forget 
the strain of naval ardour with which the Bishop 
offered his heartfelt tribute of moral respect and 
admiration to the heroic exertions of Sir James 
Brooke. 

It was his highest pleasure to bear witness to the 
merits or to contribute to the welfare of British 
seamen. He seized every opportunity of addressing 
them on their moral and religious duties, and many 
were the rough sailors whose eyes were dimmed 
with tears among the congregations of the crews 
of the Queen and the Rattlesnake, when he 
preached on board those vessels at Plymouth, 
whither he had accompanied his eldest son, Captain 
Owen Stanley, to witness his embarkation on his 
last voyage. 

" The sermon," so the Admiral told Dean 
Stanley twenty years afterwards, "was never for-^ 
gotten. The men were so crowded that they 
almost sat on one another's shoulders, with such 
attention and admiration that they could scarcely 
restrain a cheer." 

For twelve years his presence was felt as a 
power for good through the length and breadth 
of his diocese ; and after his death, in September, 
1849, his memory was long loved and revered. 

" I felt as if a sunbeam had passed through my 
parish," wrote a clergyman from a remote corner of 
his diocese, after a visit from him, " and had left 
me to rejoice in its genial and cheerful warmth. 



24 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

From that day I would have died to serve him ; 
and I believe that not a few of my humble flock 
were animated by the same kind of feeling." 

His yearly visits to his former parish of Alderley 
were looked forward to by those he had known and 
loved during his long parochial ministrations as the 
greatest pleasure of their lives. 

** I have been," he writes (in the last year of his 
life), " in various directions over the parish, visiting 
many welcome faces, laughing with the living, 
weeping over the dying. It is gratifying to see 
the cordial familiarity with which they receive me, 
and Norwich clergy would scarcely know me by 
cottage fires, talking over old times with their 
hands clasped in mine as an old and dear friend." 

Under the light which streams through the 
stained glass of his own cathedral the remains of 
Bishop Stanley rest in the thoroughfare of the 
oreat cono-reg-ation. 

"When we were children," said a grey-haired 
Norfolk rector this very year, " our mother never 
allowed us to walk upon the stone covering Bishop 
Stanley's grave. I have never forgotten it, and 
would not walk upon it even now." 

" We pass ; the path that each man trod 
Is dim, or will be dim, with weeds : 
What fame is left for human deeds 
In endless age? It rests with God." 




SfTLsfy'LL^ aJM^f 9'h,.<Sci. 



(bcLw^CLixi QJ tan It 



CHAPTER I 

NEW FRANCE AND OLD EUROPE 

Rouen and its theatres — Painted windows — Paris — Costumes 
a la Fran^aise — The guillotine — Geneva — Vetturino travel- 
ling — Italy — Spain — The Shipyi?;^^ of Leith — Gibraltar. 

IN June, 1802, Edward Stanley started on the 
first of those foreign journeys which, through- 
out his life, continued to be his favourite form of 
holiday. 

He had just left Cambridge, having obtained 
a brilliant degree, and before taking Orders he 
set out with his college friend, Edward Hussey,^ 
on the Grand Tour which was then considered 
necessary to complete a liberal education. 

They were fortunate in the moment of their 
journey, for the Treaty of Amiens, which had been 
concluded only a few months before, had enabled 
Englishmen to tour safely in France for the first 
time for many years ; and every scene in France 

^ E. Hussey, of Scotney Castle, Kent. He died in 181 7 and 
left his only son Edward (married, 1853, Henrietta Clive, daughter 
of Baroness Windsor) to the guardianship of Edward Stanley. 



26 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

was full of thrilling interest. The marks of the 
Reign of Terror were still plainly to be seen, 
and the new order of things which the First 
Consul had inaugurated was only just beginning. 

It was an epoch-making journey to a young man 
fresh from college, and Edward Stanley was deeply 
impressed by what he saw. 

He could compare his own experiences with those 
of his brother and father, who had been in France 
before the Revolution, and of his sister-in-law, Maria 
Josepha, who had travelled there just before the 
Reign of Terror ; and in view of the destruction 
which had taken place since then, he was evidently 
convinced that Napoleon's iron hand was the 
greatest boon to the country. * 

He and his companion had the good fortune to 
leave France before the short interval of peace 
ended abruptly, and they were therefore saved from 
the fate of hundreds of their friends and fellow- 
travellers who had thronged across the Channel in 
1802, and who were detained by Napoleon for years 
against their will. 

Edward Stanley and Edward Hussey left France 
at the end of June, and went on to Switzerland, 
Italy, and finally to Spain, where the difficulties 
and dangers which they met, reveal the extraordinary 
dearth of personal comfort and civilised habits 
among that nation at the time. 

The dangers and discomforts did not, however, 
interfere with the interest and pleasure of the writer 
who describes them. Then and ever after, travelling 



1802] POVERTY-STRICKEN ROUEN 27 

was Edward Stanley's delight, and he took any 
adventure in the spirit of the French song — 

"Je suis touriste 
Quel gai metier." 

His letters to his father and brother show that 
he lost no opportunity of getting information and 
of recording what he saw ; and he began on this 
journey the first of a long series of sketchbooks, 
by which he illustrated his later journeys so pro- 
fusely. 



Edward Stanley to his Father, Sir John T. 
Stanley, Bart. 

KovKN, _/u?ie II, 1802. 
My Dear Father, — You have already heard 
that I arrived here, & have been fortunate in 
every thing since I left England. Our passage 
from Brighton to Dieppe was short and pleasant, 
and so was our stay at Dieppe, which we left the 
morning after we arrived in it. I never saw France 
before the Revolution, & therefore cannot judge of 
the Contrasted appearance of its towns, but this I 
can safely say, that I never before saw such strong 
marks of Poverty both in the houses & Inhabitants. 
I have as yet seen nothing like a Gentleman ; 
probably many may affect the dress and manners of 
the lower Orders, in order to screen themselves & 
may consider that an outward show of Poverty is 



28 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

the only way of securing what Riches they have. I 
can conceive nothing so melancholy. 

When I saw fine seats without Windows or with 
shattered Roofs, & everywhere falling to decay, I 
could not help thinking of their unfortunate Owners, 
who, even if they were lucky enough to be rein- 
stated in their possessions, might fear to repair their 
Places, lest an Appearance of comfort might tempt 
the Government to seize their Effects. The only 
Buildings at all tolerable are the Barracks, which in 
general are large and well taken care of, & plenty 
of them there are in every town and village. Every 
Person is here a Soldier, ready to turn out at a 
moment's warning. This Town is in a flourishing 
State at present, tho' during " the war not a 
single ship made its appearance in its Ports ; now 
there are a great number of Vessels, chiefly Dutch. 
The Trade is Cotton, for the Manufactory of Stuffs 
and Handkerchiefs. It is said to be one of the 
dearest towns in France ; certainly I have not found 
things very cheap. We were at the Play last night. 
An Opera called " La Dot," and an after piece 
called " Blaise & Bullet " were performed. The 
Actors were capital, at Drury Lane they could not 
have acted better. The House is very large for a 
Country Theatre and very pretty, but so shockingly 
filthy and offensive, that I wondered any Person 
could go often, but habit, I suppose, reconciles 
everything. There were a great many officers in 
the Boxes, a haughty set of beings, who treat their 
Compatriotes in a very scurvy way. They are the 



1802] THEATRE MANNERS 29 

Kings of the place and do what they please, 
-Indeed, we had a fine Specimen of Liberty during 
the Performances. An Actress had been sent to 
Rouen from Paris, a wretched Performer she was, 
but from Paris she came, and the Managers were 
obliged to accept her & make her act. The Con- 
sequence was, she soon got hissed, and a Note was 
thrown on the Stage ; whatever it was they were not 
permitted to read or make it public till they had 
shewn it to the Officer of Police, who in the present 
Case would not let them read it. The hissing was, 
however, continued from Corners of the House, 
& one man who sate near us talked in a high 
style about the People being imposed on, when in 
the middle of his Speech I saw this Man of Liberty 
jump out of the Box and disappear in an Instant. 
I opened the Box door to see what was the cause, 
when lo ! the Lobby was filled with Soldiers, with 
their Bayonets fix'd, and the officer was looking 
about for any Person who might dare to whistle or 
hiss, and silent and contented were the Audience 
the rest of the Performance. I cannot help men- 
tioning a Speech I heard this very evening at the 
Play. A Man was sitting near a Lady & very angry 
he was, & attempted often to hiss, but was for some 
time kept quiet by the Lady. At last he lost all 
Patience and exclaimed, "Ma Foi, Madame, Je ferai 
ici comme si jetais en Angleterre ou on fait tout ce 
qu'on plait." And away he went to hiss ; with what 
effect his determination a I'Angloise was attended, I 
have mentioned. I afterwards entered into conver- 



30 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

satioii with the Lady, & when she told me about 
the Police Officer not giving permission to read the 
note, she added, looking at us, " to you, Gentlemen, 
this must be a second Comedy." Last night 
(Sunday) I went to a Fete about a mile from the 
Town ; we paid is. 3d. each. It concluded with a 
grand Firework. It was a sort of Vauxhall. In 
one part of the Gardens they were dancing Cotillons, " 
in another swinging. In another part bands of 
Music. I was never so much entertained as with 
the Dancers ; most of them were Children. One 
little set in a Cotillon danced in a Style I could not 
have fancied possible; you will think I am telling a 
Traveller s Story when I tell you I thought they 
performed nearly as well as I ♦could have seen at 
the Opera. Here, as at the Theatre, Soldiers kept 
every body in awe ; a strong party of Dragoons were 
posted round the Gardens with their horses saddled 
close at hand ready to act. I din'd yesterday at a 
Table d'Hote, with five French Officers. In my 
life I never saw such ill bred Blackguards, dirty in 
their way of eating, overbearing in their Conversa- 
tion, tho' they never condescended to address them- 
selves to us, and more proud and aristocratical 
than any of the ci-devant Noblesse could ever have 
been. From this Moment I believe all the Accounts 
I have heard from our officers of the French officers 
who were prisoners during the War. They were 
always insolent, and excepting in some few cases, 
ungratefull in the extreme for any kindness shewn 
to them. 





%. r/e^.M^ 






THE PRISON OF THE TEMPLE, PARIS, JUNE, 1802. 



To face p. 31. 



1802] HIGHWAY PERILS 31 

Paris, yune I'jth. 

■ The Day before yesterday I arrived in this 
Metropolis. We left Rouen in a Diligence & 
had a pleasant Journey ; the Country we passed 
over was throughout extremely fertile ; whatever 
Scarcity exists at present in France, it must 
be of short duration, as the Harvest promises to 
be abundant, and as every Field is corn land, the 
quantity of Grain will be immense. Government 
has indeed now taken every precaution. The Ports 
of Rouen & Dieppe were filled with Ships from 
Embden & Dantzig with Corn. Our Diligence 
was accompanied all the Night by a Guard of 
Dragoons, and we passed every now and then 
parties of Foot Soldiers on the Watch. The 
reason was, that the road had lately been infested 
with Robbers, who attacked the Public Carriages 
in great numbers, sometimes to the Amount of 40 
together. They in general behaved well to the 
Passengers, requiring only any Money belonging 
to Government which might happen to be in the 
Carriage. At present as the Leader is taken and 
the Band dispersed, there is no Danger, but it is 
a good excuse to keep a Number of Troops in that 
part of the Country. We entered Paris by St. 
Denis, but the fine Church and Royal Palace are 
not now as they were in your time. The Former 
is in part unroofed and considerably damaged — the 
latter is a Barrack and from its outward appearance 
seems to have suffered much in the Revolution. 
The City of Paris on entering it by no means 



32 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

strikes a stranger. In your time it must have 
been but tolerable, now it is worse, as every other 
house seems to be falling down or to be deserted. 
We have taken our abode in the Rue de Vivienne 
at the Hotel de Boston, a central Situation and the 
house tolerably dear. The poor Hussey suffered 
so much from a Nest of Buggs the first night, that 
he after enduring them to forage on his body for an 
Hour, left his Bed & passed the night on a sofa. 
A propos, I must beg to inform Mr. Hugh Ley- 
cester that I paid Attention to the Conveyances on 
the road & think that he will have no reason to 
complain of them ; the vehicles are not quite so 
good as in England nor are the Horses, but both 
are still very tolerable. The I fins I slept at were 
very good, and the roads by no means bad. I 
have been to a Play every Night since my arrival 
in Paris and shall continue so to do till I have seen 
all the theatres. The first evening I went to the 
" Theatre de la Republique " ; I am told it is the 
best. At least the first Actors performed there. 
It is not to be compared with any of ours in style 
of fitting up. The want of light which first strikes 
a Stranger's eye on entering a foreign Play-house 
has its Advantaofe. It shews off the Performers 
and induces the Audience to pay more Attention 
to ye Stage, but the brilliant Effect we are used to 
find on entering our Theatres is wanting. This 
House is not fitted up with any taste. I thought 
the theatre at Rouen preferable. The famous 
Talma, the Kemble, acted in a Tragedy, & 



1802] "COSTUMES A LA FRANgAISE" 33 

Mme. Petit, the Mrs. Siddons of Paris, performed. 
The former, I think, must have seen Kemble, as he 
resembles him both in person and style of acting, 
but I did not admire him so much. In his silent 
Acting, however, he was very great. Mme. Petit 
acted better than any tragic Actress I have ever 
seen, excepting Mrs. Siddons. After the Play last 
Night I went to the Frascati, a sort of Vauxhall 
where you pay nothing on entering, but are 
expected to take some refreshments. This, Mr. 
Palmer told me, was the Lounge of the Beau 
Monde, who were all to be found here after the 
Opera & Plays. We have nothing of the sort in 
England, therefore I shall not attempt to describe 
it. We staid here about an hour. The Company 
was numerous, & I suppose the best, at least it 
was better than any I had seen at the Theatres or 
in the Walks, but it appeared to me to be very bad. 
The Men I shall say nothing more of, they are all 
the same. They come to all Places in dirty Neck- 
cloths or Pocket Handkerchiefs tied round their 
necks & most of them have filthy great Coats & 
Boots, in short, Dress amongst the Bucks (& I am 
told that within this Month or two they are very 
much improved) seems to be quite out of the 
Question. As for the Ladies, O mon Dieu ! 
Madame Recamier's ^ Dress at Boodles was by no 
means extraordinary. My sister can describe that 
and then you may form some idea of them. By 

I Madame Recamier, famous French beauty, 1 777-1 849. 

3 



34 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

what I can judge from outward appearance, the 
Morals of Paris must be at a very low ebb. I 
may perhaps see more of them, when I go to the 
Opera & Parties. I have a thousand things more 
to say, but have no room. This Letter has been 
written at such out of the way times & by little 
bits at a time, that I know not how you will connect 
it, but I have not a moment to spare in the regular 
Course of the Day. It is now between 6 & y 
o'clock in the Morning, and as I cannot find my 
Cloaths am sitting in a Dress a la Mode dune 
Dame Fran^aise till Charles comes up with them. 
Paris is full of English, amongst others I saw 
Montague Matthews at the Frascati. I shall 
stay here till 5th July, as my chance of seeing 
Buonaparte depends on my staying till 4th, when 
he reviews the Consular Guard. He is a fine 
fellow by all accounts ; a Military Government 
when such a head as his manages everything 
cannot be called a Grievance. Indeed, it is pro- 
ductive of so much order and regularity, that I 
begin not to dislike it so much. At the Theatres 
you have no disturbance. In the streets Carriages 
are kept in order — in short, it is supreme and seems 
to suit this Country vastly well, but God forbid I 
should ever witness it in England. You may write 
to me and tell others so to do till the 25th of June. 
Adieu ; I cannot tell when I shall write again. This 
you know is a Family Epistle, therefore Farewell 
to you all. 

Ed. Stanley. 



1802] DIEPPE 35 

I have just paid a visit to Madame de D. She 
received me very graciously, & strongly pressed me 
to stay till 14th of July to be present at the Grand 
Day. She says Paris is not now worth seeing, but 
then every Person will be in Town. If there is no 
other way of seeing Buonaparte I believe I shall 
stay — but I do not wish it — I shall prefer Geneva. 

Edward Stanley to his brother, J. T. Stanley. 

Hotel de Boston, Rue Vivienne, 
/i^ne 21, 1802. 
My Dear Brother, — ... I sailed from 
Brighton on the evening of 8th and was wafted 
by a fine Breeze towards this Coast, which we 
made early on the morning of 9th, but owing to 
the tide, which had drifted us too much to leeward 
of Dieppe, we were unable to land before noon. 
We were carried before the Officer of the muni- 
cipality, who after taking down our names, ages, & 
destination, left us to ramble about at pleasure. 
Whatever Dieppe might have been before the 
Revolution, it is now a melancholy-looking place. 
Large houses falling to ruin. Inhabitants poor, 
Streets full of Soldiers, & Churches turned into 
Stables, Barracks, or Magazines. We staid there 
but one night & then proceeded in one of their 
Diligences to Rouen. These Conveyances you 
of course have often seen ; they are not as Speedy 
in their motion as an English Mail Coach, or as 
easy as a Curricle, but we have found them very 
convenient, & shall not complain of our travelling 



36 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

accommodation if we are always fortunate enough 
to meet witli these vehicles. At Rouen we staid 
four days, as the Town is large and well worth 
seeing ; I then made an attempt to procure you 
some painted glass ; as almost all the Churches 
and all the Convents are destroyed, their fine 
windows are neglected, & the panes broken or 
carried off by almost every person. The Stable 
from whence our Dilioence started had some 
beautiful windows, and had 1 thought of it in 
time I think I might have sent you some. As 
it was I went to the owner of the Churches & 
asked him if he would sell any of the windows. 
Now tho' ever since he has had possession of 
them Everybody has been permitted to demolish 
at pleasure, he no sooner found that a Stranger 
was anxious to procure what to him was of no 
value, & what he had hitherto thought worth 
nothing, than he began to think he might take 
advantage & therefore told me that he would 
give me an answer in a few days if I would wait 
till he could see what they were worth. As I was 
going the next morning I could not hear the result, 
but I think you could for one guinea purchase 
nearly a whole Church window, at least it may 
be worth your while to send to Liverpool to know 
if any Ship is at any time going there. The Pro- 
prietor of these Churches is a Banker, by name 
Tezart ; he lives in la Rue aux Ours. 

I arrived in Paris on the 1 5th, and intend staying 
even till the 14th of July if I cannot before then 



1802] EVERY PARIS STREET A BARRACK 37 

see the chief Consul. Hitherto I have been unfor- 
tunate ; I have in vain attended at the Thuilleries 
when the Consular guard is relieved, and seated 
myself opposite his box at the Opera. On the 4th 
of July, however, there is a Review of his Guard, 
when he always appears, then I shall do my utmost 
to get a view of him. I cannot be introduced as I 
have not been at our Court, and no King was ever 
more fond of Court Etiquette than Buonaparte. 
He resides in the Thuilleries; opposite to his 
windows is the place de Carousel, which he has 
Separated from the great Area by a long Iron rail- 
ing with three Gates. On each side of the 2 side 
Gates are placed the famous brazen horses from 
Venice, the middle Gate has 2 Lodges, where are 
stationed Horse Guards. Above this Gate are four 
Gilt Spears on which are perched the Cock & a 
Civic wreath which I at first took for the Roman 
Eagle, borne before their Consuls, resembling it in 
every other respect. These Gates are shut every 
night and also on every Review day. Paris, like 
all the Country, swarms with Soldiers ; in Every 
Street there is a Barrack. In Paris alone there are 
upwards of 15 thousand men. I must say nothing 
of the Government. It is highly necessary in 
France for every person, particularly Strangers, 
to be careful in delivering their opinions ; I can 
only say that the Slavery of it is infinitely more 
to my taste than the Freedom of France. The 
public Exhibitions (and indeed almost Every thing 
is public) are On a scale of Liberality which should 



38 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

put England to the blush. Everything is open 
without money. The finest library I ever saw is 
open Daily to Every person. You have but to ask 
for any book, & you are furnished with it, and 
accommodated with table, pens, ink, & paper. 
The Louvre, the finest Collection of pictures and 
Statues in the world, is likewise open, & not 
merely open to view. It is filled, excepting on the 
public days, with artists who are at liberty to copy 
anything they please. Where in England can we 
boast of anything like this ? Our British Museum 
is only to be seen by interest, & then shewn in a 
very cursory manner. Our Public Libraries at the 
Universities are equally difficult of access. It is 
the most politic thing the Government could have 
done. The Arts are here encouraged in a most 
liberal manner. Authors, Painters, Sculptors, and, 
in short, all persons in France, have opportunities 
of improving themselves which can not be found 
in any other Country in the World, not even in 
Britain. You may easily conceive that I who am 
fond of painting was most highly Entertained in 
viewing the Great Gallery of the Louvre, & yet 
you will, I am sure, think my taste very deficient 
when I tell you that I do not admire the finest 
pictures of Raphael, Titian, Guido, and Paul 
Veronese, so much as I do those of Rubens, 
Vandyke, & le Brun, nor the landscapes of Claude 
and Poussin so much as Vernet's. Rembrandt, 
Gerard Dow & his pupils Mieris and Metsu 
please me more than any other artists. In the 



1802] BREECHES AND BOOTS 39 

whole Collection they have but one of Salvator's, 
but that one, I think, is preferable to all Raphael's. 
I have not yet seen statues enough to be judge of 
their beauties. The Apollo of Belvidere & the 
celebrated Laocoon lose, therefore, much of their 
Excellence when seen by me. There is still a fine 
Collection in the Palace of Versailles, but the 
view of that once Royal Palace excites the most 
melancholy ideas. The furniture was all sold by 
auction, & nothing is left but the walls and their 
pictures. The Gardens are much neglected, & 
will soon, unless the Consul again makes it a royal 
residence, be quite ruined. You have, I daresay, 
often heard that the Morals & Society of Paris 
were very bad; indeed, you have heard nothing but 
the truth. As for the men, they are the dirtiest set 
of fellows I ever saw, and most of them, especially 
the Officers, very unlike Gentlemen. The dress of 
the women, with few exceptions, is highly indecent ; 
in London, even in Drury Lane, I have seen few 
near so bad. Before I left England, I had heard, 
but never believed, that some Ladies paraded the 
streets in men's Clothes. It is singular that in the 
first genteel-looking person I spoke to in Paris to 
ask my way, I was answered by what I then per- 
ceived a lady in Breeches & boots, since when I 
have seen several at the Theatres, at the Frascati 
& fashionable lounges of the evening, & in the 
Streets and public walks ! I have not heard from 
you since I left England. Excepting the letter 
which was forwarded from Grosvenor Place. I 



40 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

hope to hear at Geneva, where I shall go as soon 
as the great Consul will permit me by shewing him- 
self. The Country is in the finest state possible, 
and their weather most favourable. They have 
had a scarcity of corn lately, but the approaching 
Harvest will most assuredly remove that. Adieu; 
I hope Mrs. Stanley has already received a very 
trifling present from me ; I only sent it because 
it was classic wood. I mean the necklace made of 
Milton's mulberry-tree. I brought the wood from 
Christ's College Garden, in Cambridge, where 
Milton himself planted it. 

Believe me. 

Yours sincerely, 

Edwd. Stanley. 

Fvoni Edzvard Stanley to his Father and Mother. 

Lyons, y?^/F 20, 1802. 

I shall not write you a very long letter as I 
intend to send you a more particular account of 
myself from Geneva, for which place we propose 
setting out to-morrow, not by the Diligence, but by 
the Vetturino, a mode of travelling which, of course, 
you are well acquainted with, being the usual and 
almost only method practised throughout Italy 
unless a person has his own carriage. I am to 
pay ;^3 los. for ourselves and Suite, but not includ- 
ing bed and provisions. South of the Alps these 
are agreed for. 

After every endeavour to see Buonaparte had 
proved vain, on the 6th of July we quitted Paris in 



1802] A CONVENT COOK 41 

a Cabriolet. AH this night, and especially the next 
day, we thought we should be broiled to death ; the 
thermometer was at 95 the noon of July 7th ; as 
you relish that, you may have some idea of the 
Luxury you would have enjoyed with us. 

We arrived at Troyes on the evening of the 7th, 
an old town in Champagne. People civil and 
excellent Living, as the Landlord was a ci-devant 
Head cook to a convent of Benedictines, but 
Hussey and Charles were almost devoured in the 
Night by our old enemies the Bugs. Hussey was 
obliged to change his room and sleep all next day. 
I escaped without the least visit, and I am per- 
suaded that if a famine wasted the Busts of 
the whole Earth, they would sooner perish than 
touch me. 

We left Troyes early on the morning of the 9th, 
arrived at Chatillon at four, and stayed there all 
night, for the Diligences do not travel so fast as in 
England. We left it at four the next morning, 
Hussey, as usual smarting, and I very little re- 
freshed by sleep, as owing to a Compound of Ducks 
and Chickens who kept up a constant chorus within 
five yards of my bed, a sad noise in the kitchen 
from which I was barely separated, Dogs barking. 
Waggon Bells ringing, &c., I could scarcely close 
my eyes. 

At Dijon, beautiful Dijon, we arrived on the 
Evening of the loth. Had I known it had been 
so sweet a Town I should have stayed longer, but 
we had taken our places to Chalons and were 



42 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

oblig-ed to pass on. You, I believe, staid some 
time there, but, alas ! how different now ! The 
Army of rescue was encamped for some time in its 
neighbourhood, and the many respectable families 
who lived in or near it rendered it a sad prey to the 
hand of Robespierre. Its Churches and Convents 
are in a deplorable state, even as those of this still 
more unfortunate Town. The best Houses are 
shut up, and its finest Buildings are occupied by 
the Military. We left on the morning of the nth, 
travelled safely (except a slight breakdown at our 
journey's end) to Chalons sur Saone, and on the 
nth went by the water-diligence to Macon, where 
we stopped to sleep. We arrived at dusk, and as 
we were in a dark staircase exploring our way and 
speaking English, we heard a voice say, " This 
way. Sir; here is the supper." We were quite re- 
joiced to hear an English voice, particularly in such 
a place. 

We soon met the speaker, and passed a most 
pleasant Hour with him. He proved to be a 
Passenoer like ourselves in the Dilig^ence from 
Lyons which met ours here at the Common resting- 
place. He was a Surgeon of the Staff, returning 
from Egypt, by name Shute. We all three talked 
together, and as loud as we could ; the Company, I 
believe, thought us strange Beings. We told him 
what we could of England in a short time, he of 
the South, and we exchanged every Species of 
information, and were sorry when it was necessary 
to part. 




THE GUILLOTINE AT CHALON-SUR-SOANE. 



To face p. 43. 



1802] THE GUILLOTINE 43 

We arrived at Lyons on the 14th, the Day of 
the Grand Fete. We saw the Town Hall illumi- 
nated, and a Review on the melancholy Plains of 
Buttereaux, the common Tomb of so many 
Lyonnese. Here we have remained since, but 
shall probably be at Geneva on the 23rd. I lodge 
at the Hotel de Pare looking into the Place de 
Ferreant. 

The Landlady, to my great surprise, spoke to 
me in English very fluently. She is also a very 
excellent Spaniard. She has seen better days, her 
husband having been a Merchant, but the Revolu- 
tion destroyed him. She was Prisoner for some 
time at Liverpool, taken by a Privateer belonging 
to Tarleton and Rigge, who, I am sorry to say, did 
not behave quite so handsomely as they should, the 
private property not having been restored. 

Of all the Towns I have seen this has suffered 
most. All the Chateaux and Villas in its most 
beautiful Environs are shut up. The fine Square 
of St. Louis le Grand, then Belle Cour, now Place 
Buonaparte, is knocked to pieces ; the fine Statue 
is broken and removed, and nothing left that could 
remind you of what it was. 

I have been witness to a scene which, of course, 
my curiosity as a Traveller would not let me pass 
over, but which I hope not to see again — an 
Execution on the Guillotine. Charles saw a man 
suffer at Chalons ; we did not know till it was over, 
but the Machine was still standing, and the marks 
of the Execution very recent. On looking out of 



44 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

my window the morning after our arrival here, I 
saw the dreadful Instrument in the Place de 
Ferreant, and on inquiry found that five men were 
to be beheaded in the morning and two in the 
evening. They deserved their fate ; they had 
robbed some Farmhouses and committed some 
cruelties. In England, however, they would pro- 
bably have escaped, as the evidence was chiefly 
presumptive. They were brought to the Scaffold 
from the Prison, tied each with his arms behind 
him and again to each other ; they were attended 
by a Priest, not, however, in black, and a party 
of soldiers. The time of execution of the whole 
five did not exceed five minutes. Of all situations 
in the world, I can conceive of none half so terrible 
as that of the last Prisoner. He saw his com- 
panions ascend one after another, heard each fatal 
blow, and saw each Body thrown aside to make 
room for him. I shall never forget his countenance 
when he stretched out his neck on the fatal board. 
He shut his eyes on looking down- where the heads 
of his companions had fallen, and instantly his face 
turned from ghastly paleness to a deep red, and the 
wire was touched and he was no more. Of all 
Deaths it is far the most easy ; not a convulsive 
struggle could be perceived after the blow. The 
sight is horrid in the extreme, though not awful, as 
no ceremony is used to make it so. Those who 
have daily seen 200 suffer without the least 
ceremony or trial get hardened to the sight. 
The mode of Execution in England is not so 



1802] LYONS 45 

speedy certainly nor so horrid, but it is conducted 
with a degree of Solemnity that must impress the 
mind most forcibly. I did not see the two who 
suffered in the evening, the morning's business 
was quite enough to satisfy my curiosity. 

The next Morning I saw a punishment a degree 
less shocking, though I think the Prisoner's fate 
was little better than those of the day before. He 
was seated on a Scaffold in the same place for 
Public View, there to remain for six hours and 
then to be imprisoned in irons for i8 years, a 
Term (as he is 41) I think he will not survive. 

What with the immediate effects of the Siege 
and events that followed, the Town has suffered 
so much in its Buildings and inhabitants, that I 
think it will never recover. The Manufactories of 
silk are just beginning to shoot up by slow degrees. 
Formerly they afforded employment to 40,000 
men, now not above half that number can be 
found, and they cannot earn so much. Were I 
a Lyonese I should wish to plant the plains of 
Buttereaux with cypress-trees and close them in 
with rails. The Place had been a scene of too 
much horror to remain open for Public amusement. 
The fine Hopital de la Charite, against which the 
besiegers directed their heaviest cannon in spite 
of the Black ensign, which it is customary to 
hoist over buildings of that nature during a Siege, 
is much damaged, though scarcely so much as I 
should have expected. The Romantic Castle of 
the Pierre Suisse is no longer to be found, it was 



46 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

destroyed early in the troubles together with most 
of the Roman Antiquities round Lyons. I yester- 
day dined with two more Englishmen at the Table 
d'hote ; they were from the South ; one, from his 
conversation a Navy officer, had been absent seven 
years, and had been in the Garrison of Porte 
Ferrajo in the Isle of Elba, the other an Egyp- 
tian Hero. There is also a Colonel from the same 
place whose name I know not. 

I heard it was an easv thino- to be introduced 
to the Pope,i if letters are to be had for our Minis- 
ter, whose name is Fagan, or something like it. 
Now, as I may if I can get an opportunity when 
at Geneva to pay a visit to Rome and Florence 
previous to passing the Pyrenees, I should like 
a letter to this Mr. Fagan, if one can be got. As 
Buonaparte's Pope is not. I believe, so particular 
as the Hero himself with reg-ard to introductions, 
1 may perhaps be presented to him. I look for- 
ward with inexpressible pleasure to my arrival at 
Geneva, to find myself amongst old friends and to 
meet with, 1 hope, an immense collection of letters. 

The Vineyards promise to be very abundant ; 
of course we tasted some of the best when in 
Burgundy and Champagne. What a country that 
is ! The corn to the East of Paris is not so 
promising as that in Normandy. The frosts which 
we felt in May have extended even more to the 
South than to this Town. The apple-trees of 
Normandy have suffered most, and the vines in 
' Pius VII., made Pope in i8oo. 



1802] TRAVELLING PHILOSOPHERS 47 

the Northern parts of France have also been 
damaged. , . . I shall go from Geneva to Genoa, 
and there hold a council of war. 

Geneva. 

. . . Between Lyons and Geneva we supped 
with the Passengers of a Vetturino. Two of these 
were Officers in the French Service, one of them 
a Swiss, the other a Frenchman. The conversa- 
tion soon fell upon Politics, in which I did not 
choose to join, but was sufficiently entertained in 
hearing the Discourse. Both agreed in abomina- 
ting the present state of Affairs. The Swiss hated 
the Consul, because he destroyed his Country, the 
other because he was too like a King. Both were 
Philosophers, and each declared himself to be a 
Moralist. The Frenchman was by far the most 
vehement of the two, and the Swiss seemed to 
take much pleasure in leading him on. His philo- 
sophy seemed to be drawn from a source equally 
pure with his Morality ; assuming for his Motto 
his first and favourite Maxim, " que tous les 
hommes sont egaux par les lois de la Nature," &c., 
he thought himself justified in wishing Buonaparte (I 
was going to say) at the Devil (but I soon found out 
that the existence of that Gentleman was a matter 
of great doubt with the Philosopher) for daring 
to call himself the Head of the French Republic. 
His hatred of Power was only equalled by his 
aversion to the English, whom he seemed to abhor 
from the bottom of his heart, so much so, that 



48 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

when I attempted to defend the First Consul, he 
dashed out with a Torrent of abuse, and ended 
by saying, " Et enfin c'est lui qui a fait la paix 
avec I'Angleterre." 

I was for some time in doubt what part of 
the Revolution he preferred, but by defending 
Robespierre, he soon gave me an Idea of his Love 
of Liberty, Morality, Equality, and so forth. I 
was sorry he retired so soon after Supper, as I 
never was more entertained in my life in so short 
a time as with this little Fellow, as singular in his 
Fio-ure and Dress as in his Manner, and he con- 
trived to be always eating as well as talking. 

Edward Stanley to his brother J. T. Stanley. 

Argonaida, off Hyeres, 

Sept. 2g, iSo3. 

My dear Brother, — Before I left Geneva I 
firmly intended writing to you, but as I left it 
unexpectedly and sooner than I intended I had 
not time, but this, and all my adventures till I left 
it, I hope you have already heard, as I wrote two 
letters, one to my Father, the other to my Mother 
before I quitted Geneva. You will no doubt be 
Surprised, and perhaps envy my present situation. 
Where do you think I am ? Why, truly, writing 
on a cot between two 24-pounders in a Spanish 84. 
You will wonder, I am sure, at seeing the date of 
this letter, and perhaps wish to know by what good 
fortune I found a berth in a Spanish man-of-war, 



1802] A VETTURINO JOURNEY 49 

an Event which I little expected when I wrote 
last. I shall begin my story from Geneva, and 
you shall hear my adventures to the present 
moment. We left Geneva in a Vetturino for 
Turin, a Journey which took up 8 days longer 
than it naturally should hav^e done, but our Coach- 
man was taken ill, & we were on his account 
obliged to travel slowly. But I was not impatient, 
as you will know the Scenery is beautiful ; we 
crossed Mount Cenis, which, after St. Bernard's, 
cannot be called a difficult pass. At Turin we 
stayed 3 days. It is now a melancholy Town, 
without commerce, & decreasing daily in popula- 
tion. The celebrated Jourdan ^ is the ruler of 
the place, & with his wife lives in the King's 
Palace. From Turin we went to Genoa, passing 
through Country not equal in Scenery, but infinitely 
more interesting than that between Geneva & 
Turin, every step almost having been the scene 
of battle, and every Town the Object of a siege. 
But the most interesting spot of all was the plain 
of Marengo, near Alessandria. As we travelled in 
the Diligence I had not so good an opportunity 
of viewing it as I should have had in a Vetturino, 
but we stopped a short time to see the monument 
which is raised to commemorate the victory ; it 
is erected near 2 remarkable spots, one where 

^ General Jourdan, 1 762-1833, Marshal He fought in the 
Peninsular War, and rallied to Napoleon during the Hundred 
Days, but later on served the Bourbons and was made Governor 
of the Hotel des Invalides under Louis Philippe. 

4 



50 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

Desaix ^ fell, the other the House from which 
Buonaparte wrote an account of the event to the 
Directory, 

We passed also thro' Novi, every House in 
which is marked by Shot ; that unfortunate Town 
has been three times pillaged during the war. We 
arrived at Genoa on the loth of Septr., in my 
opinion the most magnificent Town for its size I 
ever saw. The Palaces are beyond conception 
beautiful, or rather were, for the French Troops 
are not at this moment admitted within the Gates ; 
they are quartered in the Suburb in great numbers. 
As for the new Government, it is easily seen who 
is at the head of it. There is a Doge, to be sure, 
but his orders come all from Paris. While we were 
waiting there expecting a ship to sail to Barcelona, 
the Medusa, English Frigate, came in, and amongst 
its passengers who came with her we found a Cam- 
bridge acquaintance, who advised us to go without 
delay to Leghorn as the Spanish Squadron was 
waiting there for the King of Etruria- in order 
to carry him to Barcelona. Fortunately the next 
day an English Brig was going, & in her we took 
our passages ; we were fortunate enough to receive 
a large packet of letters from England a few hours 
before she sailed, which had she sailed at the time 
the Captain intended we should have missed. Will 
you let my sisters know that they arrived safe .■* I 

^ General Desaix ; killed at Marengo, i Soo. 
= Louis, King of Etruria, son of Ferdinand, Duke of Parma 
married Mary, Infanta of Spain; died 1803. 



1802] BOUND FOR BARCELONA 51 

am not without hopes of making some use of the 
interesting letters to Italy, tho' I am now steering 
to the westward. After a good passage of two days 
we arrived at Leghorn and found the Spaniards 
still there. As soon as I landed I delivered a 
letter to a Mr. Callyer, a Liverpool Gentleman 
who is settled there, & by his means was intro- 
duced to the Admiral's first Lieut., who promised 
to secure me a berth in some of the ships. In 
short, here I am in a very fine ship, tho' a horrid 
sailer. I have now given you a short sketch of my 
tour till arriving at Leghorn ; I have only to say 
something of Leghorn and the Argonauta. The 
Town has suffered very much by the war, sup- 
ported nearly as it was by its Commerce with 
England. The inhabitants saw with little pleasure 
a French army take possession of the place & drive 
away the English. They still have a strong force 
in the town — upwards of 2,000 — and its fortifica- 
tions have been dismantled. It is singular enough 
to see the French and Tuscan colours flying together 
on the same staff When we entered the port the 
Tuscan Ensign was becalmed & the French flag 
was flying by itself. I was much grieved not to be 
able to visit Florence when so near it, but as the 
Squadron was in daily expectation of sailing I did 
not venture to be absent for 4 days, which the 
Journey would have required. I was therefore 
obliged to content myself with a view of Pisa, 
which I would not have missed on any account. 
The leaning Tower is a curiqsity in itself sufficient 



52 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

to induce a stranger to make a long journey to visit 
it. Here the King of Etruria lived and was hourly 
expected to set out for Leghorn. But his health, 
as it was believed, was in so precarious a State that 
it was sometimes reported that he would not go at 
all. The Queen, indeed, was in a very critical state, 
and were it not that her children, she being an 
Infanta of Spain, are entitled to a certain sum of 
money by no means small, provided they were born 
in Spain, it would have been madness in her to 
have undertaken the voyage ; indeed, I think it 
highly probable that a young Prince will make 
his appearance ere we arrive at Barcelona. After 
having spent a longer time than I liked at Leg- 
horn, which has nothing curious to recommend it, 
at lenoth it was o-iven out that on the 26th the K. 
would certainly arrive from Pisa and embark as 
soon as possible. Accordingly at 6 o'Clock on that 
day all the houses were ornamented in the Italian 
style by a display of different coloured Streamers, 
etc., from the windows, & His Majesty entered 
the Town. Had I been a King I should have 
been not altogether pleased with my reception. 
He appeared in the Balcony of the Grand Duke's 
Palace, no one cried, ''Viva Ludovico I!" He 
went to the Theatre the same Evening, which 
was illuminated on the occasion, &, of course, 
much crowded. I do not think our opera could 
have boasted a finer display of Diamonds than I 
saw that Evening in the Ladies' heads, but, be it 
remembered, that there are 7,000 Jews in Leghorn, 



1802] ON BOARD THE ARGONAUTA 53 

not one of whom is poor ; some are reported to be 
worth a million. Many of the Italians are also 
very rich. Next day we were informed that it . 
was necessary to repair on board our ship, as the 
King was to go early on the 20th. The Naval 
Scene received an addition on 26th by the arrival 
of 2 French frigates from Porto Ferrajo. They 
had carried a fresh garrison there & landed 500 
men of the former one at Leghorn ; they marched 
immediately, as it was said, to garrison Florence. 
On the 27th the Spaniards and French, the only 
ships of war in the roads, saluted, were manned 
and dressed. At Eleven o'Clock of the 27th (after 
having again seen the K. at the Opera) in the 
Launch of the Argonauia we left Leghorn & 
went on board, for the first time in my life, to 
spend I hope many days in so large a ship. 
She was one of that unfortunate Squadron which 
came forth from Cadiz to convey home Adl. 
Linois ^ & his prize the Hannibal, after our unsuc- 
cessful attack in Algeciras bay. This Ship suffered 
little ; she was then a better sailer than she is now, 

^ Comte de Linois, 1761-1848. On June 13, 1801, he, with 
three ships, defeated six British ships in Algeciras Bay, and being 
protected by the Spanish batteries, he forced the British admiral 
to retreat, leaving the Haimibal in possession of the enemy. In 
recognition of this triumph Linois received a sword of honour 
from Napoleon. The English fleet avenged this disaster on 
July 12, 1801, when the Spanish and French squadrons set 
out from Cadiz with the captured Hannibal and Admiral 
Saumarez forced the combined fleets to retire shattered into 
harbour again. 



54 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

or most probably she would not be at present in 
the Service of Spain. Early on the morning of the 
28th the Marines were on the deck. It blew fresh 
from the shore, & it was doubted whether the K. 
would venture ; at 8 o'Clock, however, the Royal 
barsre was seen comino- out of the Mole. The 
Admiral's Ship, La Reyna Louisa, gave the 
signal & at the instant Every Ship fired 3 royal 
salutes. The Effect was very beautiful ; we were 
the nearest to the Admiral, nearer the land were 
the 2 other Spanish frigates, & abreast of us the 
two French Ships. They were all dressed, and 
as the King passed near them they were manned 
and three cheers were given. The King's boat 
came first, then the Queen's. After them fol- 
lowed the Consuls of the different Nations who 
were at Leghorn, & after them a boat from each 
of the Ships. There were besides a great number 
of other boats & Ships saihng about. Soon after 
the King had arrived on board the Reyna Lotiisa, 
of 120 guns, the Signal was made for preparing to 
Sail, & soon after the Signal for Sailing. We all 
got under weigh, but as our Ship was a bad sailer 
we had the mortification of seeing ourselves left far 
behind in a short time. We have had nothing but 
light winds ever since, & for the last two days con- 
trary, but I am not in the smallest degree impatient 
to get to Barcelona. The Novelty of Scene, more 
especially as it is a naval one, pleases me more 
than anything I have met with hitherto. We are, 
however, now (Oct. 3rd) looking out for land. 



1802] SPANISH DISCIPLINE 55 

Cape Sebastian will be the point we shall first 
see in Spain, & I much fear that to-morrow night 
I shall sleep in Barcelona. Of the Discipline of the 
Spanish Navy I cannot say much, nor can I praise 
their cleanliness. I wish much to see a storm. 
How they manage then I do not know, for when 
it blows hard the sailors will not go aloft ; as for 
the officers or Midshipmen, they never think of it. 
Indeed, the latter live exactly as well as the officers; 
they mess with them, have as good berths, & are 
as familiar with them as they are with each other ; 
very different in every respect from the discipline 
In English Men of War. I shall write another 
letter to my sisters by this post ; as they are at 
Highlake you may exchange letters. Soon I shall 
write to you again. I have to thank you for a very 
long letter which I received at Geneva, chiefly 
relating to the proper judgement of paintings. I 
am not yet quite a convert, but experience may 
improve me. In Spain I understand I shall see 
some very good ones by the first masters. I fear 
much that my desire of visiting Spain will not be 
so keen as it was when I have seen a very little 
of it. By all accounts, even from Spaniards them- 
selves, travelling is very inconvenient, & what is 
infinitely worse, very expensive ; added to which 
the intolerable Suspicion & care of the Government 
renders any stay there very unpleasant. In case I 
find myself not at my ease there I shall, when at 
Gibraltar, take a passage back to Italy, for Rome 
& Naples must be seen. Now I think of it I must 



56 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

mention one ship well known to you which I saw 
at Leghorn, namely, the John of Leith. I acci- 
dentally saw her boat with the name written ; you 
may be sure I looked at her with no small pleasure. > 
When I sought for her next day she was gone. I 
little thought when I last saw you to see a ship 
in which you had spent so much time, up the 
Mediterranean. I am learning Spanish at present, 
& the progress I have made in it is not the least 
pleasure I have received during my stay in the 
ArgonatUa. It is a language extremely difficult 
to understand when spoken, but easy to read, &: 
very line. I can already understand an easy book. 
If I can add Spanish & Italian, or some knowledge 
of those lanouaoes, to mv stock, I shall consider 
my time and money as well spent, independent of 
the Countries I shall have seen. Before I close 
this letter, which you will receive long after its 
original date, I must tell you I have been making 
a most interesting visit to the celebrated Lady of 
Mont Serrat,- & was even permitted to kiss her 
hand, an honour which few, unless well recom- 
mended, enjoy. I have not time to say so much 
of it as I could, I can only assure you that it fully 
answered the expectations I had raised. The sin- 
gular Scenery and the more singular Customs of 

' The vessel in which Edward Stanley's elder brother John had 
made his Icelandic Expedition, 1788. 

~ A famous image of the Virgin, said to have been found 
A.D. 880 on a mountain of Catalonia, and in honour of which 
a magnificent church was built by Philip IL and Philip IIL 
of Spain. 



1803] "A VILE TARTAN" 57 

-its solitary inhabitants, excepting the monks of the 
convent, who lead a most merry, sociable life, are 
well worth the trouble of going some distance to 
visit. The formation of the mountain is also very 
extraordinary. Entirely pudding stone, chiefly cal- 
carious, some small parts of quartz, red granite, & 
flint only to be found. I have preserved some 
pieces for your museum, which I hope will arrive 
safe in England, as also the small collection of 
stones which I sent from the Alps. 

Yours sincerely, 

Edwd. Stanley. 

Malaga, Jan., 1803. 
My Dear Father, — To this place am I once 
more returned, after having made an excursion to 
the far-famed city of Granada and still more re- 
nowned palace of the Alhambra. My last letter 
was dated from Gibraltar on the 17th of Deer. 
We left the Rock in a Vile Tartan,^ rendered still 
less agreeable by belonging to Spaniards, who, at no 
time remarkable for cleanliness, were not likely to 
exert themselves in that point in a small trading 
Vessel. We were crowded with Passengers and 
empty Casks — both Equally in the Way ; tho' the 
latter were not then noisy nor Sick, I considered 
them as the least nuisance. Fortunately a strong 
W. Breeze soon carried us from the Rock, and in 
one night we found ourselves close to the Mole of 
Malaga. We introduced ourselves on landing to 

* Tartana — a vessel peculiar to the Mediterranean. 



58 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

the English Consul Laird, to whose attentions we 
have been since much indebted. On the 2nd 
day after our arrival we heard of a Muleteer who 
was on his return to Granada, and with whom we 
agreed for 3 Mules. The distance is iS leagues 
over the Mountains, a Journey of 3 days ; this is 
a Country wild as the Highlands of Scotland, and 
in parts, if possible, more barren. The first night 
we slept at Vetey Malaga and the 2nd at Alhama, 
a Town famous for its hot baths, which, thanks 
to the Moors — who built walls about them — the 
Spaniards still enjoy. The accommodations in the 
Country are rather inferior to those of England, 
tho' perhaps you may consider me so prejudiced in 
favour of my own, and therefore unjust in my 
accounts of other Countries. This may be the 
Case, and I dare say a Muleteer would find infinite 
fault with an English Inn, where accommodation 
may be found for the Rider as well as the Mule. 
On entering one of these Ventas, or Inns, you find 
yourself in the Midst of Jack Asses and Mules, the 
necks of which, being usually adorned with bells, 
produce a Music highly entertaining to a traveller 
after a long day's Journey over these delightful 
roads. If you can force your way through this 
Crowd of Musical Quadrupeds it is necessary that 
you should attempt to find out the Landlord and 
petition for a room, which in general may be had, 
and if you are fortunate, Mattrasses are laid on the 
floor. Eating, however, is always out of the 
question. It is absolutely necessary to carry 



1803] "MONUMENTS OF MORTALITY*' 59 

your own Stock and look for your self if a frying 
Pan can be found. If you are very much tired and 
the Bugs, Mosquitos, Fleas, and other insects (sent 
into the World, I believe, to torment Mankind) are 
also tired or satiated with sucking the Blood from the 
Travellers the preceding night, you may chance to 
sleep till 3 o'clock in the Morning, when the 
Carriers begin to load their beasts and prepare for 
the day's Journey. The pleasure of travelling is 
also considerably diminished by the numbers of 
Crosses by the road side, which, being all stuck up 
wherever a murder has been committed, are very 
unpleasant hints, and you are constantly put in 
mind of your latter End by these confounded 
Monuments of Mortality. Fortunately, we met 
with no Tromboners on the road, and hitherto we 
have saved the Country the Expence of Erecting 
3 Crosses on our account. At last we arrived at 
Granada, the 3rd Town in Spain in Extent, being 
surpassed only by Seville and Toledo. You will, 
I suppose, expect a long account of the Alhambra 
and Romantic Gardens of the Generalife, a minute 
account of the curiosities in the City and a long 
string of etceteras relative to the place. You must, 
however, remain in ignorance of all these things till 
we meet, as at present I have neither time or 
inclination or paper sufficient to repeat my adven- 
tures and observations : suffice it to say that on the 
whole I was much disappointed both with the 
Alhambra and Granada, which are I cannot say last- 
ing Monuments, for they are falling fast to ruin. Of 



60 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

the Indolence and negligence of the people, you will 
scarcely believe that so large a Town so near the 
sea, and situated in one of the finest vales in Spain, 
is almost without Trade of any Sort — neither 
troubling itself with importations or exerting its 
powers to provide Materials for Exportation. The 
Capt. Genl, however, is doing all he can to restore 
it to its former dignity, and were he well seconded, 
Granada might again hope to become one of the 
brightest ornaments of Spain. We returned by 
way of Loja and Antiquiera on the 27th of Deer., 
and have been wind bound ever since, and likely to 
be for another Month — sure never was a wind so 
obstinate as the present. We have here, I believe, 
quite formed a party to visit another quarter of the 
Globe — a short trip to Africa is at present in agita- 
tion. A Capt. Riddel from Gibraltar is one of the 
promoters, and if we can get to Gibraltar in any 
decent time you may possibly in my next letter 
hear some account of the Good Mahometans at 
Tangiers. We are but to make a short Stay and 
carry our Guns and dogs, as we are told the 
Country is overrun with game of every sort. I 
have been most agreeably surprised in finding 
Malaga a very pleasant place : we have met with 
more attention and seen more Company here than we 
ever did in Barcelona. I am this Evening going to 
a Ball ; unfortunately Fandangos are not fashion- 
able dances, but they have another called the 
Bolero, which in grace and Elegance stands un- 
rivalled, but would scarcely be admitted in the less 



1803] STORMS AND GALES 61 

licentious circles of our N. Climate. I shall take 
lessons at Cadiz, and hope to become an adept in 
all those dances before I see you. If you write 
within a fortnight — and of course you will after 
receiving this— you may still direct to Cadiz. 
There has been a disturbance at Gibraltar, which 
was hatching when we were there, and during our 
absence has Broken out. The many strange reports 
and particulars which have reached Malaga — as I 
cannot vouch for their truth, I shall not Mention ; 
the Grand point, however, was to put his Royal H. 
on board of a Ship and send him back to England. 
There has been also a desperate gale of Wind in 
the Straights — 3 Portuguese Frigates, one with 
the loss of her rudder, were blown in here. Some 
Vessels, I understand, were also lost at the Rock. 
I hope our little brig, ye Corporation, with the 
young pointers has arrived in the Thames in spite 
of the constant Gales and contrary Winds which 
we met with. I was sorry when the Wind became 
fair and the Rock appeared ahead. My taste for 
salt Water is not at all diminished by Experience. 
It is no doubt a strange one, but there is no account- 
ing for these things, you know. Malaga is warm 
enough — we have Green Peas and Asparagus every 
day. But we experienced very severe Weather at 
Granada — Frost and Snow. The baths of the 
Alhambra were even covered with Ice an Inch 
Thick. Adieu ! this is Post Day. 

Loves to all, 

Yours Sincerely, 

E. S. 



62 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

Gibraltar, yrt«. 22, 1803. 

My Dear Brother, — I promised in my last, 
which I wrote when I was on the point of Setting 
out on a tour to Granada, to write again and give 
some account of myself immediately on my return, 
which was delayed on account of Sundry unfortunate 
Circumstances till the day before yesterday. From 
Malaga I wrote to my Father, and you probably 
have heard that a fair wind carried us in a vile 
vessel from this place to Malaga in one night, from 
whence, staying as Short a time as possible, I set 
out on mules to Granada, distant a journey of three 
days. Till this time I had never, excepting from 
hearsay, formed a true idea of the perfection to 
which travelling in Spain could be carried, and yet, 
bad as it was. my return to land from Gibraltar has 
shown that thino-s mio-ht be a deo-ree worse. Of 
the roads I can only say that most probably the 
Spaniards are indebted to the Moors for first 
marking them out, and that the present race follow 
the steps of their Ancestors, without troubling 
themselves with repairs or alterations of any 
description. You may well then imagine the 
delicate State in which they now are. The 
Ventas or Inns are in a State admirably corre- 
sponding to that of the high-roads. Provisions 
of every sort must necessarily be carried unless 
the traveller wishes to fast ; beds are occasionally, 
and indeed I may say pretty generally, to be met 
with, such as they are ; of course, bugs, tieas, 
Mosquitos, and so forth must not be considered : 



1803] GRANADA 63 

they are plentifully diffused over the Country, and 
are by no means confined to the inferior houses. 
With a Substitution for " Pallida Mors " the 
quotation from Horace may with truth be applied, 
" aequo pulsant pede pauperum tabernae, Regum 
turres." We passed thro' Alhama, near which are 
some very fine hot baths ; the exact heat I could not 
ascertain (as my thermometer was actually jolted 
to pieces tho' in its case in my pocket, travelling 
from Turin to Genoa), but it is so great that I could 
scarcely keep my hand immersed for a minute. In 
another Country they would be much frequented ; as 
it is there are only some miserable rooms for those 
who repair to them from necessity. On the evening 
of the 2ist of December we arrived at our Journey's 
end, and found, what we did not expect, a very 
tolerable Inn, though as Granada is considered the 
third Town in Spain, those who are unacquainted 
with the country might expect a better. I have so 
much to say that I cannot enter into a minute 
account of the famous Palace of the Alhambra 
and other Curiosities in the Town, which is most 
beautifully situated at the foot of a range of snow- 
covered Mountains at the extremity of what is said 
to be the most luxuriant and delightful valley in 
Spain. I hope for the credit of the Inhabitants 
that it is not so, as certainly it is in a disgraceful 
state of Cultivation, and were it not for the Acque- 
ducts erected by the Moors for the convenience of 
watering the land would, I fear, in a few years be 
burnt up by the intense heat of summer. Its chief 



64 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

produce is Corn and oil ; silk and Wine are also 
cultivated, but the cold of winter sometimes injures 
the two latter. The place is badly peopled and has 
no trade ; it is chiefly supported by being the chief 
criminal port of Spain, and the richest people are 
consequently the Lawyers. We saw the baths of 
Alhambra in a state very different from what they 
usually are — actually frozen over and the Ice nearly 
an Inch thick. I must say I was greatly disappointed 
with these famed remains of Moorish Mao[nificence, 
tho' certainly when everything was kept in order, 
the fountains all playing, it must have been very 
different ; at present it is falling fast to ruin. The 
Governor is a man appointed by the Prince of 
Peace, ^ and I believe would be unwilling to bestow 
any attention on anything in the world but his own 
person, of which by all accounts he takes special 
care. We returned to Malaga through Loja and 
Antequerra, both Moorish towns. At Malaga we 
were detained by Contrary winds for three weeks ; 
we might, indeed, have passed our time less advan- 
tageously at other places, as we experienced much 
unexpected Civility & saw a great deal of Spanish 
Society. Wearied at length with waiting for Winds, 
we determined to set out on our return to the Rock 
by land, and accordingly hired 4 horses, and, 
under the most favourable auspices, left Malaga. 
We soon found that even a Spanish sky could not 
be trusted ; it began before we had completed half 
our first day's journey to pour with rain. To return 
' Emanuel Godoy, favourite Minister of Charles IV. of Spain. 



1803] MUD AND MULETEERS 65 

was impossible, as we had forded the first river. 
In short, for three days we suffered Every Incon- 
venience which can be conceived, but were still 
to meet with another disappointment, for on the 
Morning of the day in which we had certainly 
calculated to arrive at Gibraltar we came to a River 
which was so much swelled that the Boatman could 
not ferry us over. Nearly a hundred Muleteers and 
others were in the same predicament, and we had 
the satisfaction of passing two most miserable days 
in a horrid Cortigo, a house of accommodation a 
degree lower than a Venta. Our provisions were 
exhausted, and nothing but bread and water were 
to be met with. Beds, of course, or a room of any 
sort were unobtainable. Conceive to yourself a 
kitchen filled with smoke, without windows, in which 
were huddled together about forty of the lowest 
order of Spaniards. As it poured with rain we 
could not stir out, and as for staying within doors it 
was scarcely possible. If we tried to sleep we were 
instantly covered with fleas and other insects equally 
partial to a residence on the human body. After 
two days' penance, as the waters began to abate, we 
determined to cross the river in a small boat and 
proceed on foot, which we did, and though we had 
to skip thro' 2 or 3 horrible streams and wade thro' 
Mud and Marshes we performed the journey lightly, 
as anything was bearable after the Cortigo del rio 
Zuariano. We passed through St. Roque and the 
Spanish lines and arrived at Gibralter on 20th, out 
of patience with the Spaniards and everything 

5 



66 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

belonging to Spain. Indeed, the Country is a 
disgrace to Europe. I wish indolence was the only 
vice of the inhabitants, but added to laziness they 
are in general mean in their ideas, the women 
licentious in their manners, and both sexes san- 
guinary to a degree scarcely credible. In Malaga 
particularly, few nights pass without some murders. 
Those who have any regard for their safety must 
after dark carry a sword and a lantern. You may 
form some idea of the people when there was one 
fellow at Granada who had with his own hand 
committed no less than 22 Murders. Nothing could 
be more gratifying to an Englishman than finding 
wherever he goes the manufactures of his own 
Country. This in Spain is particularly the case ; there 
is scarcely a single article of any description which 
this people can make for themselves, consequently 
English goods are sure of meeting with a quick 
sale. Perhaps it may be from prejudice, but cer- 
tainly the idea I had of England before I left it has 
been raised many degrees since I have had an 
opportunity of comparing it with other countries. 
But now for some news respecting Gibraltar itself, 
which has during my absence been a scene of 
Confusion, first by a dreadful gale of wind, and 
secondly from a much more serious cause, a spirit 
of Mutiny in the Garrison. By the former 16 
or 1 8 vessels were either lost or driven on shore ; 
by the latter some lives were sacrificed before 
tranquillity was restored, and 3 men have since 
suffered death by the Verdict of a Court Martial. 



1803] GIBRALTAR MUTINEERS 67 

No doubt you will see something of it in the papers ; 
I cannot now enter into a detail as it would take 
some time. The 2 Regts. principally, and I believe 
I may say only, concerned were the Royals, which 
is the Duke's I own Regt., and the 25th ; fortunately 
they did not act in concert. The other Regts. of 
the Garrison, the 2nd, 8th, 23rd, and 54th, parti- 
cularly the latter, behaved well. The design was 
to seize the Duke and put him on board a ship and 
send him to England. He is disliked on account 
of his great severity : whether he carries discipline 
to an unnecessary degree military men know better 
than myself Despatches have been sent to 
England, and I believe some of the men concerned ; 
the greatest anxiety prevails to know what answers 
or orders will be returned. Of War and the rumours 
of War, tho' we it seems are nearer the scene of 
action than those who dwell at home, little is known, 
and what little is seems to be more inclined to peace 
than the English papers allow. It is here said, on 
what grounds I know not, that the Spaniards have 
entirely ceded Minorca to their good neighbours 
the French. We have but a small Naval force 

' H.R.H. Edward, Duke of Kent; appointed Governor of 
Gibraltar, 1802. In order to establish strict discipline in the 
garrison, which he found in a very demoralised state, he issued 
a general order forbidding any private soldiers to enter the wine 
shops, half of which he closed at a personal sacrifice of ^^4,000 
a year in licensing fees. In consequence, a mutiny broke out 
on Christmas Eve, 1802. Though the mutiny was quelled, the 
Home Government did not support the Duke, who was recalled 
in March, 1803. 



68 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

in the bay ; and a few frigates and ships of war, 
one of the latter the Bittern, I believe, arrived 
yesterday from England, but without any par- 
ticular news. Many gun boats were fitting out at 
Malaga, but I was informed they were only meant 
for " Guarda Costas," which may or not be the 
truth. We sailed for Cadiz the moment an E. wind 
would give us leave ; it has now blown almost con- 
stantly a W. wind for three months, and the season 
has been remarkably wet. I am impatient to get 
to Cadiz as I expect certainly to find letters, the 
receipt of which from home is, I think, the greatest 
pleasure a traveller can experience. Of Louisa's ' 
marriage I have as yet not heard, tho' no doubt, 
however, it has taken place. How are my Nephews 
and Nieces ? I do indeed look forward with pleasure 
to my next visit to Alderley. Remember it is now 
nearly 2 years since I have seen you ; how many 
things have happened in the time to yours most 
sincerely ^ 

Ed WD. Stanley. 

Edward Stanley to his brother J. T. Stanley. 

Gibraltar, y^ammry 16, 1803. 

My Dear Brother, — , . I shall pass over the 

greater part of the rest of your long letter & proceed 

without further delay to talk of myself. The last 

time you heard from me I think was soon after I 

^ Edward Stanley's sister, Louisa; m., November, 1802, to 
Sir Baldwin Leighton, Bart., of Loton, Shropshire. 



1803] THE WANT OF A RED COAT 69 

arrived in Barcelona ; what occurred during my stay 
there you have most probably heard from my sisters, 
as I wrote to Highlake just before I left that place. 
I consider myself as extremely fortunate in being 
at Barcelona during a time when I had a better 
opportunity of seeing the Court of Spain and the 
different amusements of the Country than I could 
have witnessed by a much longer residence even in 
Madrid itself. I was, however, unfortunately only 
a Spectator ; as no regular English Consul had 
arrived in Barcelona, I had no opportunity of being 
introduced either at Court or in the first Circles. 
Another difficulty also was in my way ; unfortunately 
I was not in the Army & consequently had no 
uniform, without which or a Court dress no person 
is considered as a Gentleman in this Country. I 
have repeatedly regretted that before I left Eng- 
land I did not put my name down on some 
Military list, & under cover of a red Coat procure 
an undisputed right to the title of Gentleman in 
Spain. 

As for the people, both noble and vulgar, it 
requires but a very short residence amongst them 
to be highly disgusted ; few receive any thing which 
deserves the name of a regular Education, & I 
have been told from, I believe, undoubted Authority, 
that a nobleman unable to write his name, or even 
read his own pedigree, is by no means a difficult 
thing to meet with. The Government is in such a 
State that ere long it must fall, I should think. The 
King is entirely under the power of the Prince of 



70 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

Peace, I a man who from being a common Corps de 
Garde has risen by degrees, & being naturally 
ambitious & extremely avaricious has gained a 
rank inferior only to that of the King, & a fortune 
which makes him not only the richest man in Spain 
but probably in Europe. He is disliked by every 
Class of people, & it is not, I believe, without good 
ground that he is considered as little better than a 
tool of Buonaparte's. 

The conduct of France to Spain in many particu- 
lars, which are too numerous now to mention, shews 
in what a deo^raded state the latter is — how 
totally unable to act or even think for herself One 
instance I need only mention, tho' I do not vouch for 
the truth of it, further than as being a report current 
in the Garrison. The French have kindly offered 
to send 4,000 troops to Minorca in order to take 
care of it for yr good friends the Spaniards, and a 
Squadron is fitting out at Toulon to carry them 
there. After your alarming account of the naval 
preparations in the three kingdoms you will expect 
that I, who am here in the centre of everything, 
should be able to tell you a great deal ; you will, 
therefore, be surprised when you are informed that 
yours is almost the only account of another war 
which I have heard of A Strong Squadron, indeed, 
of 6 line of Battle Ships some time ago sailed with 
sealed orders and went aloft, but where is unknown. 
From Barcelona, as it was utterly impossible to get 

' Godoy (Emanuel — b. 1767, d. 1851), Prince of Peace. Prime 
Minister to Charles IV. of Spain. 



1803] A STRONG LEVANTER 71 

to Madrid on account of the King having put an 
Embargo on every Conveyance, which is easily done 
as the Conveyances are bad as the roads and difficult 
to meet with, as well as enormously dear, we deter- 
mined to steer for Gibraltar by Sea, and accordingly 
took passage on an English brig, which was to stop 
on the Coast for fruit we took on board. The 
Voyage was uncommonly long, and we met with 
every Species of weather, during which I had the 
pleasure of witnessing a very interesting Collection 
of Storms, with all the concomitant circumstances 
such as Splitting Sails and Shipping Seas, one of 
which did us considerable mischief, staving in all the 
starboard quarter boards, filling and very nearly 
carrying away the long-boat, drowning our live 
Stock, and, of course, ducking us all on deck most 
thoroughly. We stayed a week at Denia, a small 
but beautiful Town on the south part of the K. of 
Valencia. We were fortunately put on shore here 
in the night of December 6th. I say fortunately, as 
in consequence of a very strong Levanter the Captn. 
was for some hours in doubt whether he should not 
be under the necessity of running through the straits 
and carrying us to England, which was very near 
happening. Italy I have quite given up for the 
present. Rome and Naples I lament not to have 
seen, but you know that from Leghorn I turned to 
the westward in Compliance with Hussey's wish, who 
was anxious to be near Lisbon. We have some 
idea of going from this place thro' Malaga to 
Granada, and soon after we return proceed to Cadiz, 



72 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

and after making some excursions from thence go 
on to Lisbon. Your letter which you promised 
to send to Madrid will, I fear, never reach me, tho' I 
have still hopes of paying that Capital a visit. At 
Lisbon I shall arrive, I should think, about March, 
and hope to be in England about May, or perhaps 
sooner. At Lisbon I hope to find a letter from you ; 
the direction is Jos. Lyne & Co. I have been very 
unfortunate in not finding some friends in the 
Garrison, the only officer to whom I had a letter 
whom I found here has been of little Service to us. 
I have, however, made the best use of my time and 
have been over the greatest part of this extraordinary 
Fortress, but shall leave the description of it, as well 
as of an infinity of other things, till we meet, which 
shall be very soon after my arrival in England. I 
must send this instantly or wait for the next Post 
day, so I shall conclude rather hastily. My best 
Love to Mrs. S. and Believe me. 

Yours sincerely, 

Edwd. Stanley. 




Wallter A:Eoulall,ph.e 



CHAPTER II 

AFTER NAPOLEON'S FALL 

News of the Emperor's fall — Foreign plans — Disquieting 
rumours — Madame de Stael — London in an uproar — 
Emperors and Kings — Hero-worship at close quarters. 

1814. 

TH E sudden rupture of the Peace of Amiens in 
May, 1803, closed France to Englishmen, 
except to the miserable eight or nine thousand who 
were in the country at the time, and were forcibly 
detained there by orders of the First Consul. It 
was not until eleven years later, in April, 18 14, 
when Napoleon had abdicated, and when the allies 
had triumphantly entered Paris and restored Louis 
XVIII. to the throne of his fathers, that peaceful 
British travellers could cross the frontier once more. 
The busy parish life which had occupied Edward 
Stanley during the years which had elapsed since 
his first visit to France had not made him less keen 
for travel than he had been in his college days, and 
all his ardour was aroused by the news that there 

was to be an end to Napoleon's rule. 

73 



74 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

The excitement caused by the rumour of the 
capture of Paris and the deposition of the Emperor 
may be guessed at by a letter received at Alderley 
from Lord Sheffield, father of Lady Maria Stanley, 
in the spring of 1814. 

Letter from Lord Sheffield. 

Portland Place, April 6, 1S14. 

... I am just come from the Secretary of State's 
Office. We are all gasping for further intelligence 
from Paris, but none has arrived since Capt. Harris, 
a very intelligent young man who was despatched 
in half an hour after the business was completed, 
but of course cannot answer half the questions put 
to him. He came by Flanders, escorted part of the 
way by Cossacks, but was stopped nearly a day on 
the road. Schwartzenberg completely out-generalled 
Buonaparte. An intercepted letter of the latter 
gave him notice of an intended operation. He 
instantly decided on the measures which brought on 
the capture of Paris. I suppose you know that 
King Joseph sent the Empress and King of Rome 
previously to Rambouillet. It is supposed that 
Buonaparte has fallen back to form a junction with 
some other troops. A friend of Marshal Beresford's ^ 
has just called here who lately had a letter from the 
Marshal which says that he is quite sure that Soult 
has not 15,000 men left, and that in sundry engage- 

^ Marshal Viscount Beresford, b. 1770, d. 1854, General in 
the English Army. He reorganised the Portuguese army in the 
Peninsular War. 



1814] RUMOURS AND ALARMS 75 

merits and by desertion he has lost about 16,000 
men. I have no letter from Sir Henry ^ or William 
Clinton 2 since I saw you, but I learn at the War 
Office that the latter was, on the 20th of last 
month, within ten days' march of the right wing of 
Lord Wellington's army. 3 

Further news soon followed, and the authentic 
accounts of the Emperor's abdication at Fontaine- 
bleau on April i ith, and of his banishment to Elba, 
made it certain that his power was broken. 

The Rector of Alderley was eager to seize the 
chance of viewing the wreck of Napoleon's Empire 
while the country was still ringing with rumours of 
battles and sieges, and he began to make plans to 
do so almost as soon as the French ports were open. 

His wife was as keen as himself, and it was at 
first suggested that Sir John and Lady Maria, as 
well as Mrs. Edward Stanley, should join the 
expedition ; but the difficulties of finding accom- 
modation, and the fears of the disturbed state of 
the country, made them abandon the idea, to their 
great disappointment. 

The following extracts from the correspondence 
of Lady Maria Stanley explain the reasons for the 
journey being given up by herself and her sister- 
in-law. 

' Sir Henry Clinton, General; d. 1829. 

^ Sir William Clinton, General, 17 69-1 854; married Louisa, 
second daughter of Lord Sheffield. 

3 On April loth Lord Wellington fought the Battle of Toulouse 
against Soult. 



76 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

They describe the feeling in England on the 
foreign situation, and also give a glimpse of the 
wayward authoress, Madame de Stael, who was just 
then on her way back to France after a banishment 
of ten years. 

Lady Maria Stanley to her sister, Lady Louisa 
Clinton. 

Alderley Park, April 30, 18 14. 

So the Parisian expedition is at an end for us, 
in convention, that is, for I think Edward will 
brave all difficulties, and with Ed. Leycester, taking 
Holland first on his way, make a fight for Paris if 
possible ; but all who know anything on the subject 
represent the present difficulties as so great, and 
the probable future ones so much greater, that 
Kitty (Mrs. Ed. Stanley) has given up all thought 
of making the attempt this year. 

Lodging at Paris is difficult to be had, and there 
are even serious apprehensions of a scarcity of pro- 
visions there. Moreover, the wise ones would not 
be surprised if things were in a very unsettled and, 
perhaps, turbulent state for some months. This 
is Miss Tunno's information, confirmed by other 
accounts she has had from Paris. 

Madame Moreau's ^ brother means to return to 

* Madame Moreau, widow of General Moreau, daughter of 
General Hulot, and a friend of the Empress Josephine. Since 
the death of the General, who was killed at the battle of 
Dresden, in 18 13, the Emperor Alexander had given Mme. 
Moreau a pension of 100,000 francs a year in recognition of her 



1814] A FIERCE REPUBLICAN 77 

prepare for her reception and the mode of travelling, 
and when all is arranged to come again to fetch her. 

There seems every reason to think another year 
preferable for a trip, especially as I have been 
making the same melancholy reflections as Cat. 
Fanshawe,^ and feared there would not be one 
clever or agreeable person left in London a Twelve- 
month hence ; my only comfort is the expectation 
that House rent will be very cheap, and that the 
said Cat. will be better disposed to take up with 
second best company for want of perfection, and 
that we may have more of her society. 

. . . All you say of the French nobility and their 
feelings is very true ; but if they return with the 
sentiment that all the Senate who wish for a good 
constitution are " des coquins," which I very much 
suspect, I shall consider the emigrants are the 
greatest "coquins" of the two sets. 

Surely, all the very bad Republicans and terrorists 
are exterminated. I should like to see a list of the 
Constituent Assembly, with an account of what 
has become of each. I have been reading all 
the accounts we have of the Revolution from the 
beginning. When I begin I am as fierce a Re- 
publican as ever, and think no struggle too much 
for the purpose of amending such a government 
or such laws. By the time I come to /93, how- 
husband's services ; and in 1814 Louis XVIII. gave her the rank 
of " Marechale de France." 

^ Catherine Fanshawe, poetess, and friend of most of the 
literary people in London of her day. 



78 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

ever, one begins to hesitate, but I rejoice most 
heartily the old times are not restored, and hope 
Louis means to be sincere and consistent with his 
good beginning. 

I return the " Conte de Cely," which is very 
entertaining and interesting, as no doubt speaking 
the sentiments of all the old nobility. I do not 
think France has seen the end of her troubles 
entirely. It is impossible the Senate and the 
Emigrants can sit down quietly together, but the 
former — the Marshals and the Generals — would be 
formidable if they had reason given them to doubt 
the security of Louis' acceptation of the Constitu- 
tion. If the Bourbons share the sentiments of their 
nobles, will you not give me leave to think they are 
too soon restored ? 

Miss Tunno is very intimate with Mdme. Moreau 
and a cousin of hers. All her accounts have been 
conformable with yours. 

Lady Louisa Clinton to her sister, Lady Maria 
Stanley. 

To-day I sat an hour with Cat. Fanshawe, and 
was highly amused by the account she gave of 
Mme. de Stael bolting up to her while standing 
speaking to Lord Lansdowne and some others at 
Mrs. Marcet's, I and saying, " I want to be acquainted 
with you. They say you have written a minuet. I 

^ Mrs. Marcet, b. 1785, a native of Geneva {nie Halduriand). 
Well known for her economic and scientific works. 



1814] THE LAST IMPORTED LION 79 

am not a judge of English poetry, but those who 
are told me it is very good. Is it printed ? " This 
intolerable impertinence, which, however, she prob- 
ably meant for condescension, so utterly overset 
Cat., that she could find not a word to say, and 
treated the overture so coldly that nothing more 
came of it. 

I exhort Cat. to recollect that the woman was so 
notorious for excessive ill-breeding, that no parti- 
cular affront was intended, and hoped she would 
not continue coy, as I long to hear something of 
this Lioness from one who can judge. 

Hitherto I have had no such luck. I hear the 
most exaggerated statements of the Baroness's 
absurdities, or of the necessity of her being one 
of every literary party. 

Letter from Miss Catherine Fanshawe, after 
meeting Lord Byron and Mme de Sta'el at 
Sir Humphry and Lady Davys. 

Early Springs 1814. 

I have just stayed in London long enough to get 
a sight of the last imported lion,^ Mme de Stael ; 
but it was worth twenty peeps through ordinary 
show-boxes, being the longest and most entertain- 
ing dinner at which I ever in my life was present. 
The party being very small, her conversation was 

^ Madame de Stael, daughter of Louis XVI. 's Minister Necker, 
b. 1766, d. 181 7. Married 1786 to the Baron de Stael, Swedish 
Minister to France. She had been exiled from France by Napoleon 
on account of her books, " Corinne " and " L'Allemagne." 



80 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

for the benefit of all who had ears to hear, and even 
my imperfect organ lost little of the discourse — 
happy if memory had served me with as much 
fidelity ; for, had the whole discourse been written 
without one syllable of correction, it would be 
difficult to name a dialogue so full of eloquence and 
wit. Eloquence is a great word, but not too big for 
her. She speaks as she writes ; and upon this 
occasion she was inspired by indignation, finding 
herself between two opposite spirits, who gave full 
play to all her energies. She was astonished to 
hear that this pure and perfect constitution was in 
need of radical reform ; that the only safety for 
Ireland was to open wide the doors which had been 
locked and barred by the glorious revolution ; and 
that Great Britain, the bulwark of the World, the 
Rock which alone had withstood the sweeping flood, 
the ebbs and flows of Democracy and Tyranny, was 
herself feeble, disjointed, and almost on the eve 
of ruin. So, at least, it was represented by her 
antagonist in argument, Childe Harold, whose 
sentiments, partly perhaps for the sake of argu- 
ment, grew deeper and darker in proportion to her 
enthusiasm. 

The wit was his. He is a mixture of gloom and 
sarcasm, chastened, however, by good breeding, and 
with a vein of original genius that makes some 
atonement for the unheroic and uncongenial cast of 
his whole mind. It is a mind that never conveys 
the idea of sunshine. It is a dark night upon which 
the lio"htnino; flashes. The conversation between 



1814] MADAME DE STAEL 81 

these two and Sir Humphry Davy,^ at whose house 
they met, was so animated that Lady Davy^ proposed 
coffee being served in the eating-room ; so we did 
not separate till eleven. Of course we had assembled 
rather late. I should not say "assembled," for the 
party included no guests except Lord Byron and 
myself in addition to the " Stael " quartette. . . . 

As foreigners have no idea that any opposition to 
Government is compatible with general obedience 
and loyalty, their astonishment was unbounded. I, 
perhaps I only, completely relished all her reason- 
ings, and I thought her perfectly justified in replying 
to the pathetic mournings over departed liberty, 
" Et vous comptez pour rien la liberte de dire tout 
cela, et meme devant les domestiques ! " She con- 
cluded by heartily wishing us a little taste of real 
adversity to cure us of our plethora of political 
health. 

In consequence of the difficulties and dangers 
anticipated in the above letters Edward Stanley 
finally decided to take as his only travelling com- 
panion his young brother-in-law, Edward Leycester, 
who was just leaving Cambridge for the Long 
Vacation. 

Mrs. Stanley accompanied her husband and 
brother as far as London, in order to see the fes- 

' Sir Humphry Davy, 1778-1829; began life as a Cornish 
miner. He became a distinguished chemist and scientist. 

2 Daughter of C. Kerr, Esq., of Kelso, and widow of S. 
Apreece, Esq., married Sir Humphry Davy, 18 12. 

e 



82 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

tivities held in honour of the State visit of the Allied 
Sovereigns to England in June, on their way from 
the Restoration ceremonies in France. 

Her letters to her sister-in-law during this visit 
describe some of the actors in the great events of 
the last few months and the excitement which 
pervaded London during their stay. 

Mrs. Edivard Stanley to Lady Maria Stanley. 

London, Friday, June 13, 1S14. 

Edward went for his passport the other day, and 
was told he must go to the Alien Office, being taken 
for a Frenchman. . . . 

I forgot yesterday to beg Sir John would write 
Edward an introduction to Lord Clancarty,^ and 
anybody else he can think of at Paris or the Hague, 
and send them to him as soon as possible. 

We have been Emperor 2 hunting all morning. 
No, first we went to Mass with Miss Cholmondeley, 
and heard such music ! 

Then with her to the Panorama of Vittoria, and 
since then we have been parading St. James's Street 
and Piccadilly. Oh ! London for ever ! Edward 
saw a whiskered man go into a shop, followed him, 
and accosted him, and it was a man just arrived 
with despatches for the Crown Prince, who was 
thankful to be shewn his way. There was a gentle- 
man came up to talk to Miss Cholmondeley, 

^ Second Earl of Clancarty, 1 767-1837. Ambassador to the 
Netherlands. 

2 The Emperor Alexander I. of Russia, 177 7-1 825. 




gnx^r^JJalk^SPL.t^c. 



^JVibUj ^J-eMc-eA-te^r - rrhcvm'^^ (DcLwzuxi CJtanlei/ iSlO 



1814] LONDON IN AN UPROAR 83 

and he had been living in the house with Lucien 
Bonaparte.^ 

Then Edward was standing in Hatchard's shop, 
and he saw a strange bonnet in an open landau, and 
there was the Duchess of Oldenburg ^ and her 
Bonnet, and her brother sitting by her in a plain 
black coat, and he gave himself the toothache 
running after the carriage. 

He saw, or fancied he saw, a great deal of 
character in the Duchess's countenance. I just 
missed this, but afterwards joined Edward, and 
walked up and down St. James's Street, trusting 
to Edward's eyes, rather than all the assurances we 
met with, that the Emperor was gone to Carlton 

' Lucien, second brother of the Emperor Napoleon, 17 75-1 840. 

2 Catherine, Grand Duchess of Russia, sister of the Emperor 
Alexander I., won golden opinions in England. " She was very 
clever, graceful, and elegant, with most pleasing manners, and 
spoke English well." Creevey says that the Emperor was much 
indebted to his sister, the Duchess of Oldenburg, for "keeping 
him in the course by her judicious interposition and observations." 
In 1808 Napoleon had wished for her as his bride, but, as she says 
in a letter to her brother, the Czar, "her heart would break as the 
intended wife of Napoleon before she could reach the limits of his 
usurped dominions, and she cannot but consider as frightfully 
ominous this offer of marriage from an Imperial Assassin to the 
daughter and grand-daughter of two assassinated Emperors " (see 
" Letters of Two Brothers," by Lady G. Ramsden). The marriage 
of the Grand Duchess Catherine to the Duke of Oldenburg was 
hastily arranged to enable her to escape the alliance. The Duke 
died in 18 12, and she afterwards married her cousin, the Crown 
Prince of Wurtemberg, to whom she had been attached in early 
youth. The Duchess attracted great attention by wearing a large 
bonnet, which afterwards became the fashion and was called after 
her. 



84 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

House, and were rewarded by a sight of him in a 
quarter of an hour, which had sufficed him to change 
his dress and his equipage, and a very fine head he 
has. Such a sense of bustle and animation as there 
is in that part of the town ! You and Sir John may, 
and I daresay will, laugh at all the amazing anxiety 
and importance attached to a glimpse of what is but 
a man after all ; but still the common principles of 
sympathy would force even Sir John's philosophy to 
yield to the animating throng of people and carriages 
down St. James's Street, and follow their example 
all the time he was abusing their folly. 

June 13, 1 8 14. 

At half-past ten we started for the illuminations, 
and nearly made the tour of the whole town from 
Park Lane to St, Paul's in the open barouche. 

I cannot conceive a more beautiful scene than the 
India House ; they had hung a quantity of flags and 
colours of different sorts across the street ; the 
flutings and capitals of the pillars, and all the out- 
lines of the buildings, marked out with lamps, so 
that it was much more like a fairy palace and a fairy 
scene altogether than anything else. 

The flags concealed the sky, and formed such a 
fine background to the brilliant light thrown on all 
the groups of figures. 

We did not get home till daylight. There was 
nothing the least good or entertaining in the way of 
inscriptions and transparencies, except a " Hosanna 
to Jehovah, Britain, and Alexander," 



1814] EMPEROR HUNTING 85 

Mrs. E. Stanley to Lady Maria Stanley. 

London, Wednesday^ June, 1814. 

Where did we go to be made fools of by the 
Emperor yesterday for four hours ? We went with 
Miss Tunno, got introduced to a gentleman's tailor 
in Parliament Street, and looked out of his window ; 
saw a shabby coach and six pass, full of queer heads, 
one of which was so like the prints of Alexander, 
and bowed so like an Emperor, that I must and will 
maintain it to have been him till I can receive 
positive proof that it was not. We saw, too, what 
they said was Blucher, but we could hear or see 
nothing but that something was wrapped up in furs. 
However, Edward was more fortunate, and came in 
for the real bows which the real Emperor made from 
the Pulteney Hotel window, and you and Sir John 
may laugh as you please at all the trouble we have 
taken to see — nothing. 

Nevertheless, though I was well disposed to kiss 
the Emperor and Prince, and all who contributed to 
disappoint the public expectation, it is certainly 
entertaining and enlivening to be in expectation of 
meeting something strange every corner you turn 
and every different report you hear. The Emperor 
has gone out this morning to look about at half-past 
nine, long before the Prince Regent called. 

They say he will sail in one of his own ships from 
Leith and may pass through Manchester. But after 
all, it is something like what Craufurd described 
being in Paris, to be hearing yourself in the midst 



86 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

of a great bustle with your eyes shut and unable to 
see what was going on round you. 

We talk of Monday se'enight for our separation. 
There is so much to be seen if one could but see it 
here, that Edward is in no hurry to be off. . . . 

At Lady Cork's the other night Blucher was 
expected. Loud Huzzas in the street at length 
announced him, the crowd gathered round the door, 
and in walked Lady Caroline Lamb ^ in a foreign 
uniform ! This I had from no less authentic and 
accurate a source than Dr. Holland, who was an 
eye-witness. She had been at the party in female 
attire, and seeing Lady Cork's anxiety to see the 
great man, returned home and equipped herself to 
take in Lady C. and Co. 

Monday^ 8 a.7n.,June i6th. 
Yesterday, after Church, we went to the Park. 
It was a beautiful day, and the Emperor may well 
be astonished at the population, for such a crowd of 
people I could not have conceived, and such an 
animated crowd. As the white plumes of the 
Emperor's guard danced among the trees, the 
people all ran first to one side and then to the 
other ; it was impossible to resist the example, and 
we ran too, backwards and forwards over the same 
hundred yards, four times, and were rewarded by 
seeing the Ranger of the Forest, Lord Sydney, who 

^ Lady Caroline, daughter of the Earl of Bessborough, wife of 
Hon. William Lamb, afterwards Lord Melbourne, authoress of 
" Glenarvon," &c. 



1814] THE ALLIES AT THE OPERA 87 

preceded the Royal party, get a good tumble, horse 
and all. We saw Lord Castlereagh almost pulled 
off his horse by congratulations and huzzahs as loud 
as the Emperor's, and a most entertaining walk we 
had. 

We dined at Mr. Egerton's. Mr. Morritt ^ rather 
usurped the conversation after dinner, but I was glad 
of him to save me from the history of each lady's 
adventures in search of the Emperor or the illumina- 
tions. The Opera must have been a grand sight ; 
it seems undoubted that the Emperor and Prince 
Regent, and all in the Royal box, rose when the 
Princess of Wales came in and bowed to her — it is 
supposed by previous arrangement. Lord Liver- 
pool 2 declared that he would resign unless something 
of the sort was done. 

One man made forty guineas by opening his box 
door and allowing those in the lobbies to take a peep 
for a guinea apiece. We made an attempt on 
Saturday to get into the pit, but it was quite impos- 
sible. I would not for the world but have been 
here during the fever, although what many people 
complain of is very true, that it spoils all conver- 
sation and society, and in another day or two 
I shall be quite tired of the sound or sight of 
Emperors. 

The merchants and bankers invited the Emperor 
to dinner ; he said he had no objection if they would 
promise him it should not exceed three-quarters of 

^ Mr. Morritt, of Rokeby. 

2 Lord Liverpool, 1770-1828. Prime Minister in 1815. 



88 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

an hour, on which Sir William Curtis lifted up his 
hands and exclaimed, " God bless me ! " 

He is tired to death with the lono- sittino-s he is 
obliged to undergo. The stories of him quite 
bring one back to the " Arabian Nights," and they 
could not have chosen a more appropriate ballet for 
him than " Le Calife Voleur." 

If he stayed long enough, he might revolutionise 
the hours of London. 

I was close to Blucher yesterday, but only saw 
his back, for I never thought of looking at a man's 
face who had only a black coat on. 

You may safely rest in your belief that I do 
not enjoy anything I see or hear without telling it 
to you, and you are quite right in your conjecture 
as to what your feelings would be here. 

I have thought and said a hundred times what a 
fever of impatience disappointment, and fatigue 
you would be in. . . . You are also right in 
supposing that you know as much or more of the 
Emperor than I do, for one has not the time nor 
the inclination to read what one has the chance 
of seeing all the day long, and it is so entertaining 
that I feel it quite impossible to sit quiet and 
content when you know what is going on. 

One person meets another : " What are you here 
for ? " " I don't know. What are you expecting 
to see ? " One says the Emperor is gone this way, 
and another that way, and of all the talking couples 
or trios that pass you in the street, there are not 
two where the word " Emperor " or " King " or 



1814] COSSACKS ON VIEW 89 

" Blucher" is not in one, if not both mouths ; and 
all a foxhound's sagacity is necessary to scent him 
successfully, for he slips round by backways and 
in plain clothes. 

Mrs. E. Stanley to Lady Maria Stanley. 

hoi^iDON, /line 17, 1814. 

We were in high luck on Sunday in getting 
a private interview with the Cossacks, through 
some General of M.'s acquaintance. We saw their 
horses and the white one, 20 years old, which 
has carried Platoff ^ throuMi all his en^ao-ements. 
They are small horses with very thick legs. The 
Cossacks themselves would not open the door of 
their room till luckily a gentleman who could speak 
Russian came up, and then we were admitted. 

There were four, one who had been thirty years 
in the service, with a long beard and answering 
exactly my idea of a Cossack ; the others, younger 
men with fine countenances and something graceful 
and gentleman-like in their figure and manner. 
They were very happy to talk, and there was great 
intelligence and animation in their eyes. No 
wonder they defy the weather with their cloaks 
made of black sheepskin and lined with some very 
thick cloth which makes them quite impenetrable to 
cold or wet. Their lances were 1 1 feet long, and 
they were dressed in blue jacket and trousers 
confined round the waist with a leather belt, in 
^ Platoff, 1716-1818, Russian General. 



90 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

which was a rest for the lance. I envied their 
saddles, which have a sort of pommel behind and 
before, between which is placed a cushion, on which 
they must sit most comfortably. We must see 
them on horseback to have seen them, but we shall 
probably have an opportunity of seeing them 
again. 

June 1 8, 1 8 14. 

On returning from Miss Fanshawe's we saw a 
royal carriage in George Street at Madame 
Moreau's, and we waited to see the Emperor 
and the Duchess (of Oldenburg) get into the 
carriage. He was in a plain blue coat ; she without 
her curious bonnet, so that I had a good view of 
her face, which I had the satisfaction of finding 
exactly what I wished to see. The extreme sim- 
plicity of her dress — she had nothing but a plain 
white gown and plain straw hat, with no ornament 
of any sort — and her very youthful appearance 
made me doubt whether it was really the Duchess ; 
but it was. 

She is very little, and there is a strong expression 
of intelligence, vivacity, and youthful, unsophisti- 
cated animation in her countenance. I fancied 
I could see so much of her character in the brisk 
step with which she jumped into the carriage, 
and the unassuming, lively smile with which 
she bowed to the people. 

The Emperor looks like a gentleman — but a 
country gentleman, not like an Emperor. His 
head is very like R. Heber's. The Duchess allowed 



1814] SERMON BEFORE KING OF PRUSSIA 91 

herself to be pleased and to express her pleasure at 
all the sights without the least restraint. She asks 
few questions, but those very pertinent. She is 
impatient at being detained long over anything, but 
anxious to silence those who would hence infer that 
she runs over everything superficially, without 
gaining or retaining real knowledge. 

At Woolwich she was asked if she would see the 
steam-engines. " No, she had seen them already, 
and understood them perfectly." As they passed 
the open door she turned her head to look at the 
machinery, and instantly exclaimed, " Oh, that is 
one of Maudesley's engines," her eye immediately 
catching the peculiarity of the construction. 

London, yz/«6 22, 1814. 
In the middle of Edward's sermon at St. 
George's to-day somebody in our pew whispered it 
round that there was the King of Prussia ^ in the 
Gallery. I looked as directed, and fixed my eyes 
on a melancholy, pensive, interesting face, exactly 
answering the descriptions of the King, and imme- 
diately fell into a train of very satisfactory reflection 
and conjecture on the expression of his physiognomy, 
for which twenty minutes afforded me ample time. 
The King was the only one I had not seen, there- 
fore this opportunity of studying his face so com- 
pletely was particularly valuable. When the prayer 
after the sermon was concluded, my informer said 
the King was gone, when, to my utter disappoint- 
' Frederick William III. 



92 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

ment, I beheld my Hero still standing in the 
Gallery, and discovered I had pitched upon a wrong 
person, and wasted all my observations on a face 
that it did not really signify whether it looked 
merry or sad, and entirely missed the sight of the 
real King, who was in the next pew. 

Nothing but his sending to offer Edward a 
Chaplaincy in Berlin for his excellent sermon can 
possibly console me, except, indeed, the honour by 
itself oi having preached before a King of Prussia, 
which can never happen again in his life. 

. . . The Duchess of Oldenburo- took all the 
merchants by surprise the other day. They had no 
idea she was coming to their dinner ; she was the 
only lady, and she was rather a nuisance to them, as 
they had provided a hundred musicians, who could 
not perform, as she cannot bear music. ^ She was 
highly amused at the scene and with their " Hip ! 
Hip!" 

Monday, June 23, 18 14. 

At our dinner Mr. Tennant came in late, with 
many apologies, but really he had been hunting 
the Emperor — waiting for him two hours at one 
place and two hours at another, and came away 
at last without seeing him at all. 

He said, in his dry way, that " Have you seen 
the Emperor? " has entirely superseded the use of 
" How do you do.-^ " 

' The Duchess had been very fond of music, but since the 
death of her husband it had affected her so deeply that she 
feared breaking down on any pubHc occasion. 



1814] A SWORD FROM HEAVEN 93 

In the morning he had gone into a shop to buy 
some gloves, and whilst he was trying them on 
the shopman suddenly exclaimed, "Blucher! 
Blucher ! " cleared the counter at a leap, followed 
by all the apprentices, and Mr. Tennant remained 
soberly amongst the gloves to make his own 
selection, for he saw nothing more of his dealers. 

Rooms are letting to-day in the City at 60 
guineas a room, or a guinea a seat for the pro- 
cession. Tickets for places to see it from White's 
to be had at Hookham's for 80 guineas ; 50 have 
been refused. 

Your letter revived me after five hours' walking 
and standing, and running after reviews, &c. 

I did see the King of Prussia, to be sure, and 
the Prince, and the people climbing up the trees 
like the grubs on the gooseberry bushes, and heard 
the /eu de j'oie, whose crescendo and diminuendo 
was very fine indeed, but altogether it was not 
worth the trouble of being tired and squeezed for. 

At the reception at Sir Joseph Banks's house last 
night the most interesting object of the evening 
was a sword come down from heaven on purpose 
for the Emperor ! Let the Prince Regent and his 
ofarters and his orders, and the merchants and the 
aldermen and everybody hide their diminished 
heads ! What are they and their gifts to the 
Philosophers' } 

This is literally a sword made by Sowerby from 
the iron from some meteoric stones lately fallen — 
of course in honour of the Emperon There is an 



94 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

inscription on it something to this effect, but not 
so neat as the subject demanded, and it is to be 
presented to Alexander — who does not deserve it, 
by the by, for having entirely neglected Sir Joseph 
amongst all the great sights and great men, which 
has rather mortified the poor old man. 

London, Monday 7iight. 

They are off, and in spite of all my friends' pre- 
dictions to the contrary, I am here. 

Edward went this mornins^ to Portsmouth on his 
way to Havre, but the Havre packet is employed 
in pleasuring people up and down to see the ships. 
Not a bed is to be had in the place, so he has 
secured his berth in the packet, if he can find 
her, and get on board at night after her morning's 
excursions. 

Standing room is to be had in the streets for 
three shillings ; seats are putting up in and for 
two miles out of the town ; all the laurels cut down 
to stick upon poles ; in short, everybody is madder 
there than in London. 

Can the English ever be called cool and 
phlegmatic again? It is really a pity some 
metaphysicianising philosopher is not here to 
observe, describe, and theorise on the extra- 
ordinary symptoms and effects of enthusiasm, 
curiosity, insanity — I am sure I do not know 
what to call it — en masse. 

One should have supposed that the great objects 
would have swallowed up the little ones. No such 



1814] HERO WORSHIP AT CLOSE QUARTERS 95 

thing! they have only made the appetite for them 
more ravenous. 

The mob got hold of Lord Hill ^ in the Park at 
the review, and did literally pull his coat and his 
belt to pieces. He snatched off his Order of the 
Bath, and gave it to Major Churchill, who put it 
in the holster of his saddle, where he preserved it 
from the mob only by drawing his sword and 
declaring he would cut any man's hand off who 
touched it. Some kissed his sword, his boots, his 
spurs, or anything they could touch ; they pulled 
hair out of his horse's tail, and one butcher's boy 
who arrived at the happiness of shaking his hand, 
they chaired, exclaiming, " This is the man who 
has shaken hands with Lord Hill ! " At last 
they tore his sword off by breaking the belt and 
then handed it round from one to another to be 
kissed. 

My regret at not having been at White's is 
stronger than my desire to go was ; it must have 
been the most splendid and interesting sight one 
could ever hope to see. 

On Friday, June 27th, Edward Stanley and 
Edward Leycester finally set off and sailed from 
Portsmouth, all gay with festivities in honour of 
the Allied Sovereigns. 

Mrs. Stanley was left to spend the time of their 
absence at her father's house in Cheshire, but the 

^ Rowland Hill. General Lord Hill, 1772-1842 ; distinguished 
in the Peninsular War. 



96 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

keen interest with which she would have shared 
the journey was not forgotten by her husband. 

The events of the tour were minutely chronicled 
in his letters to her, and not only in letters, but 
in sketch books, filled to overflowing with every 
strange group and figure which met the travellers 
on their way, through countries which had been, 
although so near, prohibited for such a long time 
that they had almost the interest of unknown lands. 

Mrs. E. Stanley to Lady Maria Stanley. 

Stoke, July 4, 18 14. 

. . . That my curiosity may not catch cold in the 
too sudden transition from exercise to inaction, the 
Shropshire and Cheshire Heroes have followed me 
down here, and I have had the pleasure of seeing 
and hearing of the crowds going to touch (for that 
is the present fashion of seeing, or, to speak 
philosophically, mode of perception) Lord Hill ; 
and yesterday I met Lord Combermere and his 
Bride at Alderley, and a worthy Hero he is for 
Cheshire ! 

A folio from Havre just arrived. I am very 
noble, very virtuous, and very disinterested — pray 
assure me so, for nothing else can console me — it 
is too entertaining to send one extract. 



CHAPTER III 

UNDER THE BOURBON FLAG 

French prisoners — Oldenburg bonnets — " Fugio ut Fulgor" — 
Soldiers of the Empire — Paris — A French hotel — A walk 
through Paris — Portrait of Madame de Stael — An EngUsh 
ambassador — The Louvre — French tragedy — The heights 
of Montmartre — Cossacks in the Champs Elysees — ^^900 
for substitute — Napoleon's legacies to his successor — A 
dinner at the English Embassy — Botany and mineralogy 
— Party at Madame de Stael's — A debate in the Corps 
Legislatif — Malmaison — Elbowing the marshals — St Cloud 
and Trianon — The Catacombs. 

Edward Stanley to his Wife. 
Letter I. 

Havre, June 26, 18 14. 

WE have passed the Rubicon — nous voila en 
France, all new, interesting, and delightful. 
I know not where or how to begin — the observa- 
tions of an hour were I to paint in Miniature 
would fill my sheet ; however, you must not expect 
arrangement but read a sort of higgledy-piggledy 

journal as things run through my head. I must 

7 97 



98 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

pin them down like my Butterflies as they pass, 
or they will be gone for ever. 

At half-past four on Friday we sailed from Ports- 
mouth, and saw the fleet in the highest beauty — 
amongst them all while they were under sail tacking, 
&c. ; the delay has not been lost time. I should 
observe before I quit the subject of Portsmouth 
events, that the Emperor could not find time to 
sail about for mere amusement two days, this he 
left to the P. R.I He (the Emperor) and the 
Duchess of Oldenburg occupied themselves in 
visiting the Dockyards, Machinery, Haslar Hos- 
pital — in short, everything worthy the notice of 
enlightened beings. . . . 

Our passengers were numerous, about 25 in a 
vessel of as many tons, with only six what they 
called regular sleeping-places. . . . But I had no 
reason to complain, our party was in many 
respects excellent — one, a jewel of no ordinary 
value, by name Mr. John Cross, of whom I must 
enquire more. I have seldom met with a man 
of more general and at the same time deep in- 
formation ; he seemed perfect in everything. 
Mineralogy, Antiquities, Chemistry, literature, 
human nature were at his fingers' ends, and 
most gentlemanly manners into the bargain. . . . 

Amongst others we had three French officers, 
prisoners returning home. They had not met 
before that evening, but had you heard their incom- 
parable voices when they sang their trios, you would 
^ The Prince Regent, afterwards George IV. 



1814] RELEASED PRISONERS 99 

have supposed they had practised together for 
years. Mr. John Cross alone surpassed them in 
their art. These gentlemen were certainly not 
hostile to Bonaparte, but to gratify their musical 
taste they stuck at nothing — " God save the King," 
"Rule Britannia," "The Downfall of Paris" were 
chaunted in swift succession, and the following 
commencement of one of their songs will show the 
popular opinion of Bonaparte's campaign in 

Russia : — 

" Quel est le Monarque qui peut 
Etre si fou 
Que d'aller a Moscou 
Pour perdte sa grande armee ? " 

A fair wind brouo-ht us in sig'ht of the French 
coast early on Saturday. At 1 1 we were under the 
headland of Havre, and at 1 2 anchored in the bay, 
and were in an instant surrounded by chattering 
boatfuls who talked much but did nothingf. On 
landing we were escorted to the Passport Office and 
most civilly received there ; the difference, indeed, 
between public offices in England and France is 
quite glaring. Even the Custom house Officers 
apologised for keeping us waiting for the form of 
searching ; and tho' the Underlings condescended to 
take a Franc or two, the Officer himself, when I 
offered money, turned away his head and hand and 
cried, " Ba, Ba, Non, Non," with such apparent 
sincerity that I felt as if I had insulted him by 
offering it. . . . 

The whole process of getting our passports signed, 



100 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

&.C., being over, we went to an Hotel. " Ici, gar^on, 
vite mettez Messieurs les Anglois a Tonzieme," cried 
a landlady — and such a landlady ! and up we 
scampered to the 5th storey (there are more still 
above us) and to this said, "No onzieme." . . . 

We lost no time in the evening in looking about 
us ; the town is situated about two miles up the 
Seine on a sort of Peninsula surrounded with very 
reo^ular and strono- fortifications. Its docks are 
incomparable, and Bonaparte would have added still 
more to their magnificence, but now all is at a 
stand — the grass is quietly filling up spaces hitherto 
taken up by soldiers. Workmen, shot and guns ; the 
numberless merchant vessels in a state of decay 
proved sufficiently the entire destruction of all trade ; 
but what gave me particular satisfaction was the 
sight of a fiotilla of Praams, luggers, intended for 
the invasion of England, all reposing in a happy 
progress to speedy putrefaction and decay. About 
a mile from the town on the hill is a beautiful villaoe 
called St. Michel, where the Havre citizens have 
country houses. The town itself is as singular as 
heart can wish — indeed, I am firmly convinced that 
the difference between the towns of the Earth and 
Moon is not greater than that between those of 
England and France. I scarcely know how to 
describe it to you. Conceive to yourself a long 
street of immensely tall houses from 5 to 8 Stories, 
huddled, for huddling is the only word which can 
convey my meaning, and in truth their extraordinary 
heioht and narrow breadth seem rather the effect of 



1814] OLDENBURG BONNETS 101 

compression than design. . . . These houses are 
inhabited by various famiHes of various occupations 
and tastes, so that each Storey has its own peculiar 
character — here you see a smart Balcony with 
windows to the orround, varnished above and below 
with the insignia of washing woman or taylor. They 
are built of all materials, though I think chiefly of 
wood (like our old Cheshire houses) and stucco ; 
and, thanks to time and the filth and poverty of the 
people, their exterior assumes a general tint of 
pleasing dirty picturesque. This said dirt may have 
its advantages as far as the eye is concerned, but the 
nose is terribly assailed by the innumerable com- 
pounded Effluvias which flow from every Alley-hole 
and corner. For the people and their dress ! who 
shall venture to describe the things I have seen in 
the shape of caps, hats and bonnets, cloaks and 
petticoats, &c. ? There I meet a group of Oldenburg 
Bonnets broader and more loaded with flowers, 
bunches, bows, plumes than any we saw in London, 
and would you believe it I am already not merely 
getting reconciled but absolutely an admirer of 
them. 

Having passed the groups of bonnets I meet at 
the next moment a set of beings ycleped Poissardes, 
caparisoned with coverings of all sorts, shapes, and 
sizes — here flaps a head decorated with lappets like 
butterflies' wings — here nods a bower of cloth and 
pins tall and narrow as the houses themselves, but 
I must not be too prolix on any one particular 
subject. 



102 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

Sunday. 

We have been to the great Church. It was full, 
very full, but the congregation nearly all female. 

There is certainly something highly imposing and 
impressive in that general spirit of outward devotion 
at least which pervades all ranks. Nothing can be 
finer than their music : we had a sermon, too, and 
not a bad one. The order of things is somewhat 
reversed. In England we wear white bands and 
black gown, here the preacher had black bands and 
white gown, and I fear the eloquence of St. Paul 
would not prevent the smiles of my hearers in 
Alderley Church were I to pop on my head in the 
middle of the discourse a little black cap of which 
I enclose an accurate representation. 

What shall I say of political feeling } I think 
they appear to think or care very little about it ; 
the military are certainly dissatisfied and the Inn- 
keepers delighted, but further I know not what to 
tell you ; I am told, however, that the new pro- 
clamation for the more decent observance of Sunday, 
by forcing the Shopkeepers to shut up their shops 
during Mass, is considered a great grievance 

Letter II. 

Rouen, /u?ie 28, 18 14, 

Foolish people are those who say it is not worth 

while to cross the water for a week. For a week \ 

why, for an hour, for a minute, it would be worth 

the trouble — in a glance a torrent of news, ideas, 



1814] "FUGIO UT FULGOR" 103 

feelings, and conceptions are poured in which are 
valuable through life. We staid at Havre till 
Monday morning, and though a Cantab friend of 
Edward's, on bundling into his cabriolet, expressed 
his astonishment we would think of staying a day, 
when he had seen more than enough of the filthy 
place in an hour, we amused ourselves very well till 
the moment of departure 

At 4 on Monday we stepped into the cabriolet or 
front part of our diligence, on the panels of which 
was written " Fugio ut Fulgor," and though ap- 
pearances were certainly against anything like com- 
pliance with this notice, the result was much nearer 
than I could have conceived. Five horses were 
yoked to this unwieldy caravan — two to the pole, 
and three before, and on one of these pole horses 
mounted a Driver without Stockings in Jack Boots, 
crack went an enormous whip, and away galloped 
our 5 coursers. It is astonishing how they can be 
managed by such simple means, yet so it was ; we 
steered to a nicety sometimes in a trot, sometimes 
in a canter, sometimes on a full gallop. 

The time for changing horses by my watch was 
not more than one minute- — -before you knew one 
stage was passed another was commenced ; they gave 
us 5 minutes to eat our breakfast — an operation 
something like that of ducks in a platter, the dish 
consisting of coffee and milk with rolls sopped in 
it. The roads are incomparable — better than ours 
and nearly if not quite as good as the Irish. The 
country from Havre to Rouen is rich in corn of 



104 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

every description — there is nothing particular in the 
face of it, and yet you would, if awakened from a 
dream, at once declare you were not in England ; in 
the first place there are no hedges — the road was 
almost one continuous avenue of apple-trees ; the 
timber trees are not planted in hedgerows but in 
little clumps or groves, sometimes but generally 
rather removed from the road, and it is amongst 
these that the villages and cottages are concealed, 
for it is surprising how few in comparison with 
England are seen. The trees are of two de- 
scriptions — either trimmed up to the very top or cut 
off so as to form underwood. I did not observe one 
that could be called a branching tree ; the finest beech 
we saw looked like a pole with a tuft upon it. The 
cottages are mostly of clay, generally speaking very 
clean, and coming nearer to what I should define a 
cottage to be than ours in England. 

You see no cows in the fields, they are all tethered 
by the road-side or other places, by which a con- 
siderable quantity of grass must be saved, and each 
is attended by an old woman or child. We passed 
through 2 or 3 small towns and entered Rouen 
8 hours after quitting Havre, 57 miles. Rouen, 
beautiful Rouen, we entered through such an avenue 
of noble trees, its spires, hills and woods peeping 
forth, and the Seine winding up the country, wide 
as the Thames at Chelsea. 

Such a gateway ! I have made a sketch, but 
were I to work it up for a month it would still fall 
far short and be an insult to the subject it attempts 



1814] SOLDIERS OF THE EMPIRE 105 

to represent. If Havre can strike the eye of a 
stranger, what must not Rouen do ? Every step teems 
with novelty and richness, Gothic gateways, halls, 
and houses. What are our churches and cathedrals 
in England compared to the noble specimens of 
Gothic architecture which here present themselves ? 
. . . Rouen has scarcely yet recovered from the dread 
they were in of the Cossacks, who were fully ex- 
pected, and all valuables secreted — not that they 
were absolutely without news from the capital : the 
diligence had been stopped only once during the 
three days after the Allies entered Paris. Till then 
they had proceeded comme a Vordinaire, and the 
diligence in which we are to proceed to-night left it 
when Shots were actually passing over the road 
during the battle of Montmartre — how they could 
find passengers to quit it at such an interesting 
moment I cannot conceive ; had I been sure of being 
eaten up by a Horde of Cossacks, I could not have 
left the spot. 

What an odd people the French are ! they will 
not allow they were, in ignorance of public affairs 
before the entrance of the Allies. " Oh no, we had 
the Gazettes," they say, and I cannot find that they 
considered these Gazettes as doubtful authorities. 
We have plenty of troops here — genuine veterans 
horse and foot ; I saw them out in line yesterday. 
The men were soldier-like looking fellows enough, 
but one of our cavalry regiments would have 
trotted over their horses in a minute without much 
ceremony ; the army is certainly dissatisfied. Mar- 



106 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

mont is held In great contempt ; they will have it he 
betrayed Paris, and say it would be by no means 
prudent for him to appear at the head of a line 
when there was any firing. The people may or 
may not like their emancipation from tyranny, but 
their vanity — they call it glory — has been tarnished 
by the surrender of Paris, and they declare on all 
hands that if Marmont had held out for a day 
Bonaparte would have arrived, and in an instant 
settled the business by defeating the Allies. In 
vain may you hint that he was inferior in point 
of numbers (to say anything of the skill and 
merit of the Russians perhaps would not have 
been very prudent), and that he could not have 
succeeded. A doubtino- shake of the head, sio-nifi- 
cant shrug of the shoulders, and expressive " Ba, 
Ba," explain well enough their opinions on the 
subject. 

I cannot conceive a more grating badge to the 
officers than the white cockade — -the fleur de lys is 
now generally adopted in place of the N and other 
insignia of Bonaparte, but, excepting from some 
begging boys, I have never heard the cry of " Vive 
Louis XVIII. !" and then it was done, I shrewdly 
suspect, as an acceptable cry for the Anglois, and 
followed immediately by " un pauvre petit Hard, s'il 
vous plait, Mons." We went to the play last night ; 
the house was filthy beyond description, and the 
company execrable as far as dress went ; few 
women, and those in their morning dress and 
Oldenburg Bonnets — the men almost all officers, 



1814] "VIVE NAPOLEON!" 107 

and a horrid-looking set they were. I would give 
them credit for military talents ; they all looked like 
chiefs of banditti — swarthy visages, immense mous 
tachios, vulgar, disgusting, dirty, and ill-bred in 
their appearance. 

From all I hear the account of the duels between 
these and the Russian officers at Paris were 
perfectly correct.^ 

I am just come in from a stroll about the town. 
Among the most interesting circumstances that 
occurred was the inspection of detachments of 
several regiments quartered there. I happened to 
be close to the General when he addressed some 
Grenadiers de la Garde Imperiale on the subject of 
their dismissal, which it seems they wanted. They 
spoke to him without any respect, and on his ex- 
plaining the terms on which their dismissal could 
alone be had, they appeared by no means satisfied, 
and when he went I heard one of them in talkino- 
to a party collected round him say, " Eh bien, s'il 
ne veut pas nous congedier, nous passerons." A 
man standing by told me a short time ago a 
regiment of Imperial Chasseurs when called upon 
to shout " Vive Louis XVI I L ! " at Boulogne, to a 
man, officers included, cried "Vive Napoleon! " and 
I feel very certain that had the same thing been 
required to-day from the soldiers on the field, they 

^ " After the Restoration of the Bourbons several duels took 

place for the most frivolous causes. Duels were fought even 

by night. The ofificers of the Swiss guards were constantly 

measuring swords with the officers of the old ' Garde Imperiale ' " 

Gronow's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 22). 



108 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

would have acted in the same manner, and that the 
spectators would have cried " Amen." 

I heard abundance of curious remarks on the 
subject of the war, the peace, and the changes ; 
they will have it they were not conquered. " Oh 
no." " Paris ne fut jamais vaincue — elle s'est soumise 
seulement ! " I leave it to your English heads to 
define the difference between submission and 
conquest. 

Beef and mutton are 5d. per lb. here. Chickens 
3s. the couple, though 24 per cent, was probably 
added to me as an Englishman. Bread a 100 per 
cent, cheaper than in England — at least so I was 
informed by an Englishman in the commercial line. 
Fish cheap as dirt at Havre, 3 John Dorys 
for 6d. 

From Havre to Rouen, 57 miles, cost us ;^i 6s. 
for both ; from thence to Paris, 107 miles, £2 ; our 
dinners, including wine, are about 4s. a head ; 
breakfast 2s., beds is. 6d. each. 

Letter HI. 

Paris, Jiine ■^ofh. 

Here we arrived about an hour ago ; for the last 
two miles the country was a perfect garden — 
cherries, gooseberries, apple-trees, corn, vineyards, 
all chequered together in profusion ; in other 
respects nothing remarkable. . . . 

The first sight of Paris, or rather its situation, is 
about 10 miles off, when the heights of Montmartre, 
on one side, and the dome of the Hopital des 



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1814] A WALK THROUGH PARIS 109 

Invalides on the other reminded us of their trophies 
and disasters at the same time. . . . 

Now you must enter our rooms in 1' Hotel des 
Etrangers, rue du Hazard, as I know you wish to 
see minutely. First walk, if you please, into an 
antechamber paved with red hexagon tiles (dirty 
enough, to be sure), and the saloon also, into which 
you next enter through a pair of folding doors. This 
saloon is in the genuine tawdry French style — gold 
and silver carving work and dirt are the component 
features. It is about 20 feet square, plenty of 
chairs, sofas of velvet, and so forth, but only one 
wretched rickety table in the centre. Two folding 
doors open into our bedroom, which is in furniture 
pretty much like the rest ; the beds are excellent — 
fitted up in a sort of tent fashion — and mine has a 
looking-glass occupying the whole of one side, in 
which I may at leisure contemplate myself in my 
night-cap, for I cannot discover for what other 
purpose it was placed there. 

Now let us take a walk — put on thick shoes or 
you will find yourself rather troubled with the 
paving stones, for nothing like a flagged footpath 
exists ; a slight inclination from each side termi- 
nates in a central gutter, from which are exploded 
showers of mud by the passing carriages and cabri- 
olets. You must get on as you can ; horse and foot, 
coaches and carts are jumbled together, and he 
who walks in Paris must have his eyes about him. 
The streets are in general narrow and irregular, and 
so much alike that it requires no small skill to find 



110 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

one's way home again. Ariadne in Paris would 
wish for her clue. First we ascended the bronze 
column I in the Place de Vendome — figure to your- 
self a column perfect in proportions much resembling 
Nelson's in Dublin, ornamented after the plan of 
Trajan's pillar — all of bronze, on which the opera- 
tions of the wars and victories in Germany are 
recorded. Bonaparte's statue crowned it, but that 
was removed. The column itself, however, will 
remain an eternal statue commemorating his deeds, 
and though the Eagles and letter N are rapidly 
effacing from every quarter, this must last till Paris 
shall be no more. From the top of this pillar you 
of course have a magnificent view, and it must have 
been a choice spot from whence to behold the fight 
of Montmartre. It will scarcely interest you much 
to say much about the other public buildings, suffice 
it to say that all the improvements are in the very 
best style — magnificent to the last degree ; they 
may be the works of a Tyrant, but it was a Tyrant 
of taste, who had more sense than to spend 
120,000 Louis in sky-rockets. His public buildings 
at least were for the public good, and were 
ornaments to his capital. 

But let us turn from inanimate to living objects ; 
since I penned the last line I have been sitting 
with Mme. de Stael. ... By appointment we 

^ The Colonne Vendome. This stood on the site of a statue 
to Louis XIV. which had been melted down at the Revolution. 
It was made of Austrian cannon taken during the years from 
1806 to 1810. 



1814] A VISIT TO MADAME DE STAEL 111 

called at 12.1 For a few moments we waited in a 
gaudy drawing-room ; the door then opened and 
an elderly form dressed a la jeunesse appeared ; 
she is not ugly ; she is not vulgar (Edward begs 
to differ from this opinion, he thinks her ugly 
beyond measure) ; her countenance is pleasing, but 
very different from anything my fancy had formed ; 
a pale complexion not far from that of a white 
Mulatto, if you will allow me to make the bull ; 
her eyebrows dark and her hair quite sable, dry 
and crisp like a negro's, though not quite so 
curling. She scarcely gave me time to make my 
compliments in French before she spoke in fluent 
English. I was not sorry she fought under British 
colors, for though she was never at a loss, I knew 
I could express and defend myself better than had 
she spoken in French. I hurried her as much as 
decency would permit from one subject to another, 
but I found politics were uppermost in her 
thoughts. . . . She was equally averse to both 
parties — to the royal because she said it was 
despotism ; the Imperial because it was tyranny. 
"Is there," said I, "no happy medium ; are there 
none who can feel the advantages of liberty, and wish 
for a free constitution?" " None," said she, "but 
myself and a few — some 12 or 15 — we are nothing ; 
not enough to make a dinner party." I ventured 
to throw in a little flattery — I knew my ground — 

^ Madame de Stael had only returned to France after her long 
exile a few weeks after Napoleon's abdication. Her rooms were 
in the Hotel de Tamerzan, 105, Rue de Grenelle St. Germain. 



112 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

and remarked that an opinion like hers, which had 
in some measure influenced Europe, was in itself 
an host ; the compliment was well received, and 
in truth I could offer it conscientiotisly to pay tribute 
to her abilities. 

On leaving" Mme. de S. we paid another visit. 
From the greatest woman we went to see our 
greatest man in Paris, Sir Charles Stuart,^ to whom 
Lord Sheffield had given me a letter of introduc- 
tion. This had been sent the day before, and of 
course I now went to see the effect. After waiting 
in the Anti-chamber of the great man for about halt 
an hour, and seeing divers and sundry faces pass and 
repass in review, we were summoned to an audience. 
We found a little, vulgar-looking man, whom I 
should have mistaken for the great man's butler 
if he had not first given a hint that he was bona 
fide the great man himself. I think the conversa- 
tion was nearly thus : E. S. : " Pray, Sir, are the 
Marshalls in Paris, and if so is it easy to see 
them? " Sir C. S. : " Upon my soul I don't know." 
E. S. : " Pray, Sir, is there anything interesting 
to a stranger like myself likely to take place in the 
course of the next fortnight?" Sir C. S. : " Upon 

I Stuart, Sir Charles, 1779-1845. Eldest son of Sir C. Stuart, 
General, and Louisa, daughter and co-heiress of Lord Vere Bertie. 
Minister at the Hague and Ambassador at Paris, and later on 
at St. Petersburg. British Envoy at the Congress of Vienna. 
Created Baron Stuart de Rothesay 1841. Married, 1816, Lady 
Elizabeth Yorke, third daughter of third Earl of Hardwicke. 
Gronow gives a more favourable account of him, " One of the 
most popular Ambassadors Great Britain ever sent to Paris." 



1814] AN ENGLISH AMBASSADOR 113 

my soul I don't know," E. S. : " Pray, Sir, is the 
interior of the Thuilleries worth seeing, and could 
we easily see the apartments ? " Sir C. S. : '* Upon 
my soul I don't know." This, I do assure you, was 
the cream of the conversation. Now certainly a 
great man ought to look wise and say he does not 
know so and so, when in fact he knows all about 
it, but somehow or other I could not help thinking 
that Sir Charles spoke the truth, for if I may draw 
any inference from Physiognomy, I never saw a face 
upon which the character of "upon my soul I don't 
know " was more visibly stamped. I left my card, 
bowed, and retired. . . . 

I next turned my eyes to the Louvre.^ What are 
the exhibitions of London, modern or ancient ? What 
are Lord Stafford's, Grosvenor's, Angerstein's, &c., 
in comparison with this unrivalled gallery ? Words 
cannot describe the coup d'oeil. Figure to yourself a 
magnificent room so long that you would be unable 
to recognise a person at the other extremity, so long 
that the perspective lines terminate in a point, 
covered with the finest works of art all classed and 
numbered so as to afford the utmost facility of 
inspection ; no questions asked on entering, no 
money to be given to bowing porters or butlers, 
no cards of admission procured by interest — all open 
to the public view, unfettered and unshackled ; the 
liberality of the exhibition is increased by the 
appearance of Easels and desks occupied by artists 

^ Under the Treaty of Paris France had been allowed to keep 
the Art Treasures taken by Napoleon. 

8 



114 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

who copy at leisure. It is noble and grand beyond 
imagination. In the Halls below are the Statues, 
arranged with equal taste, though, as they are in 
different rooms, the general effect is not so striking. 
I recognised all my old friends, the Venus de 
Medicis was alone new to me. She is sadly muti- 
lated, but is still the admiration of all persons of 
sound judgment and orthodox taste, amongst whom, 
I regret to say, I deserve not to be classed, as I 
really cannot enter into the merits of statues, and 
the difference between a perfect and moderate 
specimen of sculpture appears to me infinitely less 
than between good and moderate paintings. . . . 

After dining at a Restaurateur's, who gave us a 
most excellent dinner, wine, &c., for about 3s. a 
head, we went to the Theatre Fran9ais, or the 
Drury Lane of Paris. We expected to see Talma ^ 
in Merope, but his part was taken by one who is 
equally famous, Dufour, and the female part by 
Mme. Roncour. She was intolerable, though appa- 
rently a great favourite ; he tolerable, and that is 
all I can say. In truth, French tragedy is little to 
my taste. . . . The best part of the play was the 
opportunity it afforded " les bonnes gens " de Paris 
to show their loyalty, and much gratified I was 
in hearing some enthusiastic applause of certain 
passages as they applied to the return of their 
ancient sovereign. There is something very sombre 
and vulgar in the French playhouses with the men's 
boots and the women's bonnets. Could I in an instant 
^ Talma, the celebrated tragic actor, 1 763-1826. 



1^ 






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S^ 

4 




f5 



1814] VANISHED TROPHIES 115 

waft you from the solitudes of Stoke to the clatter 
of Paris, how you would stare to see the boxes filled 
with persons almost extinguished in their enormous 
casques of straw and flowers. I have seen several 
bearing, in addition to other ornaments, a bunch of 
5 or 6 lilies as large as life. . . . 

Letter IV. 

Paris, July 8, 1814. 

You will take for granted we have seen all the 
exhibitions, libraries, &c., of Paris ; they will wait 
for more ample description — a glance on one or two 
will be sufficient. 

L'Hopital des Invalides was, you know, famous 
for its magnificent dome, which was decorated with 
flags, standards, and trophies of the victorious arms 
of France ; impatient to shew them to Edward, I 
hastened thither, but alas, not a pennant remains. 
On the near approach of the Allies they were taken 
down, and some say burnt, others buried, others 
removed to a distance. I asked one of the Invalides 
whether the Allies had not got possession of a few. 
With great indignation and animation he exclaimed, 
" Je suis aussi sur que je suis de mon existence qu'il 
n'ont pas pris un j-^z^i/meme." 

On Sunday last, after having hunted everywhere 
for a Protestant church, one of which we found at 
last by some blunder quite empty, we went with 
our landlord, a serjeant in the national guard, to 
inspect the heights of Chaumont, Belleville, and 
Mt. Martre. . . . We ascended from the town for 



116 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

about 3 miles to a sort of large rambling village, in 
situation and circumstances somewhat like Highgate. 
This was Belleville, whose heights run on receding 
from Paris a considerable distance, but terminate 
rather abruptly in the direction of Mont Martre, 
from which they are separated by a low, swampy 
valley containing all the dead horses, filth, and 
exuvious putrefactions of Paris. . . . Immediately 
below, extending for many miles, including St. Denis 
and other villages, are fine plains ; upon which 
plains about 3 in the morning the Russians de- 
ployed, and the Spectacle must have been interest- 
ing beyond measure. . . . On the heights and 
towards the base were assembled part of Marmont's ^ 
army with their field pieces and some few heavier 
guns ; there, too, were stationed the greater part 
of the students of I'Ecole Polytechnique, corre- 
sponding to our Woolwich cadets. Nothing could 
surpass their conduct when their brethren in arms 
fled ; they clung to their guns and were nearly all 
annihilated. I was assured that their bodies were 
found in masses on the spot were they were origi- 
nally stationed ; their number was about 300. . . . 
I met a few in the course of the day who were, like 
ourselves, contemplating the field of battle, and who 
spoke like the rest of their countrymen of the base- 

^ On March 30th the AlHes marched on Paris. They attacked 
in three divisions — the Silesian army on the side of Mont- 
martre, Prince Eugene of Wurtemberg and Barclay de Tolly 
by Pantin and Romainville, the Crown Prince of Wurtemburg 
by Vincennes and Charenton. Marmont surrendered the same 
day. 



1814] THE HEIGHTS OF MONTMARTRE 117 

ness of Marmont and treachery of the day. The 
cannonade must have been pretty sharp while it 
lasted, as about 5,000 Russians perished before they 
got possession of the heights — though the actual 
operation of storming did not occupy half an hour — 
but their lines were quite open to a severe fire of 
grape from eminences commanding every inch of 
the plain. Whilst this work was going on at 
Belleville, another Russian column performed a 
similar service at Mt. Martre, which is nearer Paris 
— in fact, immediately above the Barriers. . . . 
Thither our guide next conducted us, and pointed 
out the particular spots where the assault and 
carnage were most desperate. A number of Parties 
were walking about and all talking of the battle or 
Bonaparte. . . . Till this day I had never heard 
him openly and honestly avowed, but here I had 
several opportunities of incorporating myself in 
groups in which his name was bandied about with 
every invective which French hatred and fluency 
could invent. Their tongues, like Baron Mun- 
chausen's horn, seemed to run with an accumulated 
rapidity from the long embargo laid upon them. 
*' Sacre gueux, bete, voleur," &c., were the current 
coin in which they repaid his despotism, and I was 
happy to find that his conduct in Spain was by all 
held in utter detestation and considered as the 
ground work of his ruin. 

I saw one party in such a state of bodily and 
mental agitation that I ran up expecting to see a 
battle, but the multiplicity of hands, arms, and legs 



118 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

which were rising, falling, wheeling, and kicking, 
were merely energetic additions to the general sub- 
ject. . . . The National guard were not (with few 
exceptions) actually engaged. To the amount of 
36,000 they occupied the towns and barriers, by all 
accounts guessing, or, as one intelligent conductor 
assured us, very certain that they would not be 
called upon to fight much for the defence of Paris. 
. . . Indeed, from all I have been able to learn, and 
from all I have been able to see, it appears pretty 
clear that no serious defence was intended — a little 
opposition was necessary for the look of the thing. 
And although Marmont might have done more, I 
feel convinced that had he exerted himself to the 
utmost, Paris must have perished. 

The heights were defended in a very inadequate 
and unsoldierlike manner ; not a single work was 
thrown up before the guns, no entrenchments, no 
bastions, and yet with three days' notice all this 
might have easily been done. The barriers all 
round Paris were, and still are, hemmed round with 
Palisades with loop holes, each of which might have 
been demolished by half a dozen rounds from a 6- 
pounder ; the French, indeed, laugh at them and 
consider them as mere divertissements of Bona- 
parte's, and feeble attempts to excite a spirit of 
defence amongst the people — a spirit which, for- 
tunately for Europe, was never excited. The lads 
of Paris had determined to take their chance and 
not to do one atom more than they were called 
upon or compelled to do. These wooden barriers 



1814] COSSACK:S AT CHAMPS ELYSEES 119 

are made of le bois de tremble (aspen), and the 
pun was that the fortifications "tremblaient par- 
tout." You will like to hear somethinor of Edg-e- 
worth's friend, St. Jean d'Angely ; ^ he came up 
to the barrier where our landlord (who had been 
formerly an imperial guardsman and fought in the 
battle of Marengo) was posted ; here he called 
loudly for some brandy, for which he got laughed at 
by the whole line of guard ; he then sallied forth 
and proceeded a short distance, when his horse took 
fright, and as St. Jean was, as our landlord told us, 
" entierement du meme avis avec son cheval," they 
both set off as fast as they could, and were in 
a few minutes far beyond all danger, nor did they 
appear again amid the din of arms. The fate of 
Paris v/as decided with a rapidity and sang-froid 
quite astonishing. By 5 o'clock in the Evening all 
was entirely at an end, and the national guard and 
allies incorporated and doing the usual duty of the 
town. They were, indeed, under arms a little 
longer than usual, and a few more sentries were 
placed and the theatre not open that Evening, 
but that single evening was the only exception, 
and the next day the Palais Royal was as brilliant 
and more cheerful than ever, with its motley groups 
of visitors. The Cossacks were not quartered 
in the Palais Royal, they were in the Ch. Elysees, the 
trees of which bear visible marks of their horses' teeth, 
but a good many came in from curiosity and hung 
their horses in the open space of the Palais. . . . 

^ Regnaud St, Jean d'Angely, 1762-1819. 



120 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

The Russian discipline was most severe, and not an 
article was taken from any individual with impunity, 
immediate death was the punishment. The field of 
battle bore few marks of the event — a few skeletons 
of horses and rags of uniforms ; the more surprising 
thing is that, notwithstanding all the trampling of 
horse and foot on the plains below so late as the 
end of March, the corn has not suffered in the 
slightest degree. I wish the Alderley crops were as 
good. 

You have no idea of the severity of the con- 
scription. That men can be attached to a being 
who dragged them, with such violence to every 
feeling, from their homes would be astonishing, but 
for the well-known force of the "selfish principle" 
which amalgamates their glory with his. A friend 
of our landlord's paid at various times 18,000 fr., 
about ;^900 ; he thought himself safe, but Bonaparte 
wanted a Volunteer guard of honour ; he was told 
it would be prudent to enroll himself, which in 
consideration of the great sums he had paid would 
be merely a nominal business, and that he would 
never be called upon. He did put his name down ; 
was called out in a trice and shot in the next 
campaign. Our waiter at Rouen assured me his 
friends had bought him off by giving in the first 
instance £2^ for a substitute, with an annuity to the 
said substitute of an equal sum — pretty well this, 
for a poor lad of about 16. 

Thanks to our landlord and not to Sir Charles 
Stuart, we mi^ht have been introduced into the 



1814] NAPOLEON'S LEGACY OF DEBT 121 

Thuilleries, but came too late. We lost nothing, 
as after Mass the King marched through a beautiful 
sort of Glass gallery facing the Thuilleries Gardens, 
and then came out into a Balcony to shew himself 
to the crowd there assembled ! he was received with 
universal and loud applause. "Vive le Roi ! " was 
heard as loud as heart could wish, hats, sticks and 
handkerchiefs were flying in all directions. When 
he entered Paris, in one of the Barriers a sort of 
Archway was made and so contrived that as the 
carriage passed under a crown fell upon it, a band 
at the same time striking up " Ou peut on etre 
mieux que dans le sein de sa famille," which is, 
you know, one of their favourite airs. 

Poor man, he has enough to do, and will, I fear, 
experience a turbulent reign. Bonaparte has left 
his troops 3 years in arrears, the treasury empty, 
two parties equally clamourous for places and 
pensions, both of which must be satisfied. Their 
taxes are heavier than I thought they were. Our 
landlord has an estate worth about 2,000 frcs., his 
father paid 200 fr. a year for it, and he is now under 
the necessity of paying 1,200, having only a clear 
surplus of 800, and the finances are at too low an 
ebb to allow of any immediate reduction in their 
taxes. . . . 

To take things in their course, I must now 
proceed to my dinner at Sir Charles Stuart's. I 
was shewn into a room where I found three or four 
Englishmen gaping at one another. Before many 
more had assembled, in came Sir C., and I believe^ 



122 BEFORE AND AE'TElR WATERLOO 

or rather I am willing to flatter myself, he made a 
sort of half bow towards us, and then we stood and 
gaped again ; a few more words between him and 
one or two who were to go to Court the day after, 
but to me and some others not a syllable of any 
description was uttered, and when some more 
English were shewn in who were, I presume, as 
respectable as myself, his behaviour was quite 
boorish, he did not condescend to look towards 
the door. These thino-s went on till a throno- 
of Spaniards with Stars and orders came in ; with 
these he appeared tolerably intimate, and also with 
three Englishmen who afterwards appeared. We 
were about 24 in number, and all I had to do in the 
half-hour preceding dinner was to look out for the 
most intelligent, gentlemanlike-looking Englishman 
I could, to secure a place by him. . . . 

You will ask who I met. I protest to you that I 
went and returned without being able to learn more 
than that the secretary's name was Bidwell, and 
that one other person in company was a Mr. Martin, 
who had been agent for prisoners ; of the rest I 
knew nothing, not even of my neighbour ; birth, 
parentage, and education were alike involved in 
the cloud of diplomatic mystery which seemed 
to impend heavily over this mansion, and when 
my neighbour asked me, or I asked him, the 
names of any person present the answer was mutual 
— " I don't know." Sir Charles sat in the centre 
with a ofold-coated Don on each side of him, with 
whom he might have whispered, for though I sat 



1814] JARDIN DES PLANTES 123 

within two of his Excellency, I never heard the 
sound of his voice : however, my opinion may not 
coincide with all that pass from Calais to Dover, 
as I heard one man remark to another that his 
countenance was very pleasing, to which was 
added in reply, "and he is a very sensible man." 
These things may be, but I never met with one 
more perfect in the art of concealing his talents. 

Now for the Jardin des Plantes and its lectures. 
This same Jardin is a large space appropriated to 
Botanical pursuits, public walks, menageries, 
museums, &c. There you see Bears and Lions 
and, in fact, the finest collection of Birds and 
Beasts alive, some in little paddocks, others in 
clean and airy dens. But this is the least part 
of this delightful establishment ; its museums and 
cabinets are like the Louvre, the finest collection 
in the world. Everything is arranged in such 
order that it is almost impossible to see it without 
feeling a love of science ; here the mineralogist, 
geologist, naturalist, entomologist may each pursue 
his favourite studies unmolested. Here, as every- 
where else, the utmost liberality is shewn to all, 
but to Englishmen particularly, your country is 
your passport. Like the mysterious " Open Sesame " 
in the Arabian nights, you have only to say, " Je suis 
Anglais " and you go in and out at pleasure. I have 
seen Frenchmen begging in vain with ladies and 
officers of the party and turned away because they 
had happened on the wrong day or hour, and then 
we, without solicitation, have been desired to walk 



124 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

in. But all these museums and living animals, 
curious and interesting as they are, are surpassed 
by the still greater liberality shewn in the daily 
lectures given by the members of the Institute or 
Professors of the several sciences. I have attended 
Haiiy,! Dumeril,^ I'Ettorel, du Mare, and others 
upon Mineralogy, Nat. Hist, and Entomology, 
and Haiiy, you know, is the first mineralogist in 
Europe, and I never looked upon a more interesting 
being. When he entered the lecture room, every 
one rose out of respect, and well they might. He 
is 80 years of age apparently, with a most heavenly 
patriarchal countenance and silver hair ; his teeth are 
gone, so that I could not understand a word he 
said, though, indeed, had he been possessed of 
all the teeth in Christendom I apprehend I should 
not have been much wiser, as he lectured on the 
angular forms of the Amphiboles. He looked like 
a man picked out of a crystal, and when he dies 
he ought to be reincarnated and placed in his own 
museum. 

Another Scene to which I found my way was 
equally interesting : I went to a lecture on Icono- 
graphic drawing, or Science, as it was called, of 
representing natural subjects. In other words, when 
I got there I found it was a professorship of drawing, 
everything connected with Nat. Hist., such as 
flowers, animals, insects ; and the Professor lectures 
one day and practically instructs on another. I 

' Abai Reny Just Haiiy, 1743-182 2. 
^ Dumeril, naturalist and professor. 



1814] PRIVILEGES OF AN ENGLISHMAN 125 

happened to be present at one of the latter. Conceive 
my surprise at finding myself in a large library 
filled with tables, drawing books, ladies and gentle- 
men all sketching either from nature or excellent 
copies here. As it was not a public day except 
to those who wished to attend for instruction, 
I ought not with propriety to have intruded, but 
" J'etais Anglois " and every attention was paid. You 
would have given a little finger to have seen the 
room ; it was a hot summer's day, but there all 
was cool and fragrant ; the windows opened on 
the gardens, the tables were covered with groupes 
of flowers in vases ; the company, about 40, were 
seated up and down where ever they chose, each 
with a nice desk and drawing board — in short, it 
was a scene which excited feelings of respect for 
a nation which thus patronised everything which 
could add to the rational improvement of its 
members. Were France the seat of religion and 
pure virtue it would be Utopia verified ; but, alas ! 
there are spots which stain the picture and cast 
a balance decidedly in favour of England : we 
are rough, we are narrow-minded, but he who 
travels is brought to confess and say " England ! 
with all thy faults I love thee still." . . . 

Letter V. 

Paris, July 10th. 
Madame de Stael's party formed a fine contrast 
to the gloom and ponderosity of Sir Charles Stuart's 
dinner the day before. We went a quarter before 



126 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

nine, thinking, as it was the nominal hour, it would 
be ill-bred to go too early, but the French are more 
punctual in these matters, for we found the good 
people all assembled and Marmont 'f walked out not 
five minutes before we walked in. 

In his stead we had General Lafayette, ^ the 
cornerstone of the Revolution. He is a tall, 
clumsy-made man, not much unlike Dr. Nightingale, 
tho' rather thinner. His countenance discovers 
thought and sound judgment, but by no means 
quickness or brilliancy ; his manners were quiet, 
unassuming, and gentlemanlike. He spoke little, 
and then said nothing particularly worth notice. 

The next lion announced was a lioness, the cele- 
brated Madame Recamier,3 and though she is not 
in her premiere jeunesse, I can easily conceive how 
she could once dazzle the world. It would be too 
much to give her credit for superior talents, but her 
manners were very agreeable tho' rather like all 
other belles of France who have fallen in my way, 
somewhat a la languissante. But I am all this 
while forgetting the star of the evening, the Baroness 
herself. She sat in a line with about six ladies, 
before whom were arranged as many gentlemen, 

' Marmont, 17 74-1 85 2, Due de Raguse. The defence of 
Paris had been left in his hands by Napoleon, and his surrender 
to the Allies was the finishing stroke which forced Napoleon 
to abdicate. 

2 Lafayette, 1 757-1 834, Liberal general and politician. 

3 Madame Recamier, 177 7-1 849, a famous beauty. She 
had held a "salon" at Paris in the early days of the Empire, but 
had been exiled in 181 1 and had just returned (June, 1814). 



1814] A PARTY AT MADAME DE STAEL'S 127 

all listening to the oracular tongue of their political 
Sybil. 

She was in high spirits because she had been 
warmed up by the decision of the court and com- 
mons concerning the liberty of the press, which had 
received an effectual check by limiting all liberty 
of speech and opinion to works containing not less 
than 480 pages, thus excluding the papers and 
pamphlets. The moment we were announced, 
before she asked me how I did, she enquired 
whether I had heard this notable decision, and 
then demanded what I thought of it. Of course, 
I assured her how much I lamented the prospect 
of an inundation of dull, prolix books to which 
France was thus inevitably exposed. This, as we 
spoke in English, she immediately translated for the 
benefit of the company, adding " Ce Monsieur 
Anglois dit cela, et c'est bien vrai il a raison," 
and then she laughed and seemed to enjoy the 
catalogue of stupid books which might be antici- 
pated. 

I must confess the party was a little formidable ; 
in England I should have said formal, but there 
is something in French manners wholly foreign to 
any application of the word formal, and really after 
exchanorinof a few remarks I was plad to be intro- 
duced to her son^ and daughter, ^ with both of whom 
I was much pleased. They are clever and agree- 
able. She is not above eighteen or twenty, and 

' Auguste de Stael, 1790-182 7. 

2 Mademoiselle de Stael, married the Due de Broglie. 



128 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

if her complexion was good would be very pretty. 
She was not shy, beginning conversation in a trice 
upon interesting subjects. She compared the 
English and French character, in which she (and 
I presume it was a maternal opinion) would not 
allow an atom of merit to the latter. On finding 
that I was a clergyman she immediately began 
upon Religion, talked of Hodgson,^ Andrews, 
Wilberforce,- and then in questioning me about 
the Methodists (about whom she seemed to have 
heard much and entertained confused notions) we 
slid into mysticism, which carried us, of course, into 
the third vol. of " Allemagne "; she spoke in raptures 
of the mystic school, said she was quite one in 
heart — " Cela se peut," thought I ; but somehow or 
other " Je ne le crois pas," for I have heard some 
little anecdotes of her mother, in which, whatever 
may be her theoretical views of mysticism, her 
practical opinions are rather more lax than Fenelon's. 
Much against my will I took my leave, willing to 
hope that Mme. S. spoke the truth when she said 
how glad she should be to see me if I visited Paris 
during the winter ; she is off to Switzerland in a 
few days. The French say we have spoilt her — in 
fact, she occupies little of the public attention in 
Paris. 

* Hodgson, Dean of Carlisle and Rector of St. George's, 
Hanover Square; d. 1844. 

= William Wilberforce, 1 759-1833 ; distinguished among 
the promoters of Negro Emancipation and the Abolition of 
the Slave Trade. 



1814] THE "CORPS LEGISLATIF" 129 

The next event most interesting was our visit to 
the Corps L^gislatif, or House of Commons. We 
went to a certain door, to which we were refused 
admittance, and told it was too full or too late. 
But said I, " Nous sommes Anglois " ; in an instant 
a man came up and placed us in an inner gallery 
in the body of the house. The House is something 
like the Royal Institution — of course larger and 
beautifully fitted up. Considering it as the Royal 
Institution for your better comprehension, the 
President sits on a tribunal throne in a recess 
corresponding to the fire-place ; immediately below 
is a sort of Rostrum from whence the Members 
speak, in situation like the lecturer of the R.I. 
In point of decoration and external appearance 
both of house and members, it is far superior to 
our House of Commons, as all the members wear 
uniforms of blue and gold, but taking it all together 
I know not that anything can be more illustrative 
of the French Character — externally all correct and 
delightful, but within " a sad rottenness of the state 
of Denmark." 

The president began the proceedings by ringing a 
bell ; a paper was then read detailing, I believe, the 
orders of the day. A member then arose and went 
to the Rostrum. In the middle of his speech he 
was called to order and told it was a very bad 
speech, so down he came and another mounted. 
He was equally disliked, for they told him he spoke 
too low and they could not hear him, so he dis- 
appeared ; then half a dozen got up and were so 

9 



130 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

impatient that they began speaking altogether 
before they reached the Tribune. In vain did 
the President ring his bell, and stand up and 
gesticulate. Silence, however, was at length ob- 
tained, and he addressed them, but with little better 
success than the rest. One man then stept for- 
ward and did obtain a hearing, for he had good 
lungs and a fair share of eloquence. His speech 
was short, but it was by far the best ; his name was 
Dumolard.^ Soon afterwards the sitting broke up ; 
the whole took up little more than an hour. I 
know not whether the perfect want of order was 
more ridiculous or disgusting ; the sittings of the 
Senate (Peers) are private. . . . 

We will now take you to Malmaison, the in- 
teresting retreat of the interesting Josephine. Her 
character was scarcely known in England. We 
hear little more of her than as a discarded Empress 
or Mistress of Buonaparte's, but she had much to 
recommend her to public as well as private notice. 
The French all speak highly of her, and it is 
impossible, on seeing Malmaison and hearing of 
her virtues, not to join in their opinion. To be 
sure, as a Frenchman told me in running through 
a list of virtues, " Elle avait ete un peu libertine, 
mais ce n'est rien cela," and, indeed, I could almost 
have added, " C'est bien vrai," for every allowance 
should be made ; consider the situation in which 

^ Dumolard, 1 766-1820 ; a French politician, a prominent 
figure in the Chamber of Representatives under the first Restora- 
tion, 



1814] 



MALMAISON 



131 



she was placed, her education, her temptations ; 
many a saint might have fallen from the eminence 
on which she stood ; 



I never dwelt with 
more satisfaction or 
felt more inclined 
to coincide in that 
benevolent verdict 
of the best of 
judges of human 
nature and human 
frailty, " Neither do 
I condemn thee, go 
and sin no more," 
than in criticising 
the character of 
Josephine. 

I am not sure 
whether you know 
exactly the history 
of Malmaison. The 
house and land 
attached to it 
were purchased by 
Buonaparte when 
First Consul, and 
given to Josephine, 
who made it what 
it is, and bouofht 



MALMAISON 




tt 



n 



n 



B 



n 



n 



n 



n 



n 



u 



I 



r 

JL 



D 



. F 



more land, so that it is now in fact a little 
Estate. On being divorced, she retired thither 



132 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

with Eugene Beauharnais, her son, and younger 
children. Her pursuits and occupations will be 
best understood by describing what we saw. I 
should say, before I proceed, that it required some 
interest to get in, and that we went with the 
Hibberts, who knew the secretary of the Swedish 
Ambassador, in whose suite we were incorporated 
for admission. The chief room in the house is 
what is called the Gallery A, planned and finished 
according to her own designs ; the floor is a mass 
of dark inlaid marble, the ceiling arched and light 
admitted from it, the whole not much unlike the 
Gallery at Winnington on a much larger scale. It 
would be difficult to describe the fitting up of the 
interior. The walls are hung with the most exquisite 
selections from ancient Masters, not stolen, but 
many given to her, and the rest purchased by her- 
self; but I was more struck by the statues than 
with any thing else. The dots represent them and 
their situations in the Gallery; they are chiefly by 
two modern artists, Canova and Boher, though I 
fear the reputation of my taste and judgment will 
suffer by the confession. I still must confess that 
I felt far more pleasure than in looking either upon 
Apollo or the Venus de Medicis. There was a 
Bust and Statue of herself, the latter particularly 
beautiful, and if accurate, which I was assured it 
was, the original must have been elegant and 
interesting to the last degree. It reminded me 
much of Lady Charlemont, with a stronger ex- 
pression of sense. The rest of the room was 



1814] DEATH OF JOSEIPHINE 133 

furnished with tables inlaid with marble, upon 
which were a variety of bronzes, pieces of armour, 
&c., and her musical instruments were as she had 
left them, and everything wore an appearance of 
comfort which is seldom seen in the midst of such 
magnificence. Through folding doors you enter 
into a smaller room hung with pictures. C. was 
her chapel ; before a little unostentatious altar, which 
had every appearance of having daily witnessed her 
devotions, was a beautiful Raphael ; the walls were 
hung with seven small Scripture subjects by 
Poussin. I would have given a great deal to 
have been her invisible observer in this sacred 
retirement. She must have been alone, for it was 
scarcely large enough to admit priest or attendant. 

D. was a room in which she breakfasted, during 
which time music was generally performed in B. 
From E. was a fine view of the Aqueduct of Marly, 
and E. was the way to the Garden, which she had 
fitted up in the English style. I have not time 
to enter into detail of these or her greenhouses. 
She was fond of Society and patronised the Arts. 
She allowed Artists to sit at leisure in her gallery 
to copy pictures, and conversed with them a great 
deal. She did an infinity of good to all within her 
reach and was beloved by all. Her death was very 
sudden ; she had complained of a sore throat, but 
not sufficiently to confine her to her room. On a 
certain Wednesday or Thursday she was in her 
Park in high spirits, showing it to the Emperor 
Alexander and King of Prussia ; being rather 



134 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

heated she drank some iced water ; In the evening 
she was worse, on Sunday she was dead, sensible 
to the last ; talked of death, seemed perfectly- 
resigned — to use the words of a French lady, who 
told me many interesting particulars, " sa mort 
etait tres chretienne." They were busied in packing 
pictures and making catalogues, but I believe there 
is no fear of dismantling the house, as Eugene 
Beauharnais ^ and the children are to have it in 
conformity to her will.- I have seen few things 
since my departure from England which have 
interested me more than Malmaison, and I could 
almost fancy that her statue, which is that of a 
pensive female, with the chin resting on the hand, 
was her ghost ruminating over the extraordinary 
events which had recently occurred, and which she 
had quitted for ever. You will see Malmaison 
in my sketch-book, as well as the Castle of Vin- 
cennes, which is as picturesque and imposing as it 
is interesting, from the circumstances attending the 
Duke d'Enghien's 3 death. It seems this event was 
known at Paris the next day and spoken of with as 
much freedom as the despotic government of Paris 
would admit. . . . 

^ Eugene Beauharnais, 1780-1824, Viceroy of Italy, 1805-15. 
Son of Josephine by her first marriage with the Vicomte de 
Beauharnais. 

- After the Second Restoration Prince Eugene Beauharnais 
sold Malmaison and removed its gallery of pictures to Munich. 

3 Due d'Enghien, 17 72-1804, son of the Due de Bourbon. 
Shot at Vincennes by order of Napoleon when First Consul, 
under the pretext that he had conspired against him. 



1814] ELBOWING THE MARSHALS 135 

I went yesterday to see the house of Peers in the 
Luxembourg. The Hall of sittings is not unhke that 
of the Corps Legislatif, but the decorations are more 
interesting, each niche being filled with Austrian 
standards and a few others. Under a gilt dome, 
supported by similar pillars, was the spot where 
Napoleon's throne was not. The remnants I saw 
lying in one of the Ante-rooms, all of which were 
ornamented with immense pictures of the principal 
battles, but these, out of compliment to the 
Emperor, &c., had been covered over with green 
baize, even the very standards had been removed 
during the stay of the Emperor of Austria in Paris. 
There is a sitting on Tuesday, and if I stand at 
the door I may see the Marshals alight, but my 
curiosity would not be satisfied, as no persons seem 
to know them ; even the man who shewed us the 
hall, who actually keeps the door thro' which they 
enter and sees them all constantly, assured me he 
did not know one from the other. He did not even 
know whether Marmont ^ had one arm or two. 

Letter VL 

Paris, July nth. 
Thanks to our Landlord, and not to Sir Charles 
Stuart, we have just been elbowing the Marshals, 
as a Serjeant of the National Guard offered to take 
us into the Thuilleries, and in we went with him in 
full uniform, on the very best day we could have 

* Marmont lost his arm at the battle of Salamanca in 1812. 



136 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

selected since our arrival in Paris, as a corps of 
about lo or 15,000 men were to be reviewed by 
the King " en masse " in the Place de Carousel, 
immediately in front of the Thuilleries. 

We were stationed in a room of which I had 
heard much and wished above all things to see — 
" la Salle des Marechaux," so called from the 
full-length portraits of 18 of these gentlemen with 
which it is hung ; the upper part of the room is 
surrounded by a gallery decorated with pictures 
of the chief battles — Lodi, Passage of the Po, 
and one sea piece descriptive of the capture of 
our P'rigate, the Ambuscade, by a smaller vessel. 
It is so good a picture that for the sake of 
the painting I never thought of lamenting the 
subject. 

After standing in this Hall for a few minutes in 
the midst of Generals without number in full 
uniform, I had the satisfaction of being almost 
knocked over by Marshal Jourdan,^ a sharp, queer- 
looking fellow not at all stamped with the features 
of a hero. I eyed him well, and had scarcely 
satiated my curiosity when half a dozen more came 
by, walking about without peculiar honors or atten- 
tion, and only to be distinguished from the Generals 
by a broad red ribbon, worn like those of our 
Knights of the Bath. 

I looked at each and all, but as few could tell 
their names I was at a loss to distinguish one from 
another ; my head and eyes were in a perfect fidget, 
' JoLirdan, General, 1762-1S33. 



1814] DAVOUST 137 

flying from Marshal to Marshal and from Picture 
to Picture. 

Of the Dues de Treviso,^ de Conegliano,^ 
Serurier,3 and Perignan 4 I had no doubt, as I 
saw them again several times, but I am not sure 
that I should know the others except from a 
recollection of their pictures. 

I will describe a few while their countenances are 
fresh upon my memory. 

Ney 5 is a fine, handsome man, but remarkably 
fair with light curling hair, and struck us very like 
Mrs. Parker, of Asde. 

Due d'lstria^ was reckoned by Robert Hibbert 
like me — that is to say, he had dark arched eyebrows, 
a fox-like sort of countenance, very dark, almost 
swarthy, and from his extreme bilious appearance, 
I should imagine might be troubled, like myself, 
with bad headaches. 

Davoust ! 7 I can scarcely recall his portrait with- 

' Due de Treviso, Marshal Mortier, 1 768-1835. 

^ Due de Conegliano, Marshal Moncey, 1754-1842. He 
defended the walls of Paris as Major-General of the National 
Guard and laid down his arms only after the Capitulation 
was signed. 

3 Serurier, General, 1742-18 19. 

4 Perignan, General, 1754-1819. 

5 Ney, Prinee de la Moskowa, Due d'Elehingen, 1769-18 15, 
" Le Brave des Braves." He swore allegiance to Louis XVIH., 
but returned to Napoleon in 1815, fought under him at Waterloo, 
and was shot for treason under the Second Restoration. 

^ Due d'Istria, Bessieres, Commander of the Old Guard. 
^ Davoust, Prince d'Eekmuhl. In 1814 the unfortunate city 
of Hamburg was still suffering under the unrelenting severity of 



138 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

out shuddering. If ever an evil spirit peeped thro' 
the visao-e of a human beino-, it was in Davoust. 
Every bad passion seemed to have set its mark on 
his face : nothing grand, warlike, or dignified. It 
was all dark, cruel, cunning, and malevolent. His 
body, too, seemed to partake of his character. I 
should fancy he was rather deformed. I never saw 
so good a Richard III. Let him pass and make 
way for one of a different description, Victor,^ 
a fine, open, gentlemanly countenance, tho' not like 
a military hero. Marmont, a dark haired, sharp- 
looking man of military stature. Due de Dantzig,- 
very ugly and squinting. Berthier,3 remarkably 
quiet and intelligent. Murat,4 an effeminate cox- 
comb with no characteristic but that of self-satis- 
faction. Moncey, a respectable veteran. Massena,5 
the most military of all, dark hair and countenance, 
fine figure. Soult,^' a stern soldier, vulgar but 

Davoust, who had appointed a commission having the power ot 
condemning to death all persons who used inflammatory speeches 
to exasperate the soldiers or the inhabitants. 

^ Victor, Due de Belluno, 1 764-1841. 

-' Lefebre, Due de Dantzig, 1755-1820. 

5 Berthier, Prince de Wagram, 1753-1815, Chief ot the 
Staff. A close friend of Napoleon from 1796 onwards. He 
escaped to Bamberg in 1815 in hopes of remaining neutral, 
but was killed there by the emissaries of a secret society. 

•^ Murat, 1 7 78-1 8 1 5, King of Naples and husband of Caroline 
Bonaparte. He had concluded a treaty with Austria against 
Napoleon in January, 1814. He was shot in Calabria in 1815. 

5 Massena, Due de Rivoli, 1 758-1817. " The favoured child 
of victory." 

^ Soult, Due de Dalmatie, 1 769-1861. He decided the 
victory of Austerlitz. 



1814] VIVE LE ROl 139 

energetic ; his mouth and lower part of his face Hke 
Edridge,' though not so large a man. 

The King was to me a very secondary person ; 
however, I was close to him as he tottered, like a 
good old well-meaning man, to Mass. On his 
return he appeared, as I described last Sunday, 
in the balcony facing the gardens for a few minutes 
and was loudly cheered, and then he came back 
to the Salle des Marechaux and sat down in a fine 
chair of Bonaparte's, covered all over with his Bees, 
in a Balcony facing the Place de Carousel, from 
whence he looked down on the 10,000 troops who 
were there assembled. The shouts here were not 
what they ought to have been. Comparatively few 
cried " God bless him ! " and I much fear the 
number who thought it was still less. The Due 
de Berri,- on horseback with Marshal Moncey on 
one side and Du Pont 3 on the other, reviewed the 
troops, who passed in companies and troops before 
them. As each company passed the officer held up 
his sword and cried *' Vive le Roi ! " and some 
of the soldiers did the same, but not more than 
one out of ten. 

I heard an anecdote of the Due de Berri which 
is, I hope, true. A few days ago in reviewing some 
troops on the Champs Elysees an officer in passing 

' Edridge, portrait painter, 1769-1821. 

^ Duke de Berri, second son of the Comte d'Artois, afterwards 
Charles X., [778-1820. He married Caroline of Naples, and was 
the father of the Comte de Chambord. He was assassinated by 
Louvel on the steps of the Opera House at Paris in 1820. 

3 General Du Pont, 1 759-1838. 



140 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

chose to cry out, " Vive Napoleon ! " upon which 
the Due rode up to him, tore his Epaulette from 
his shoulder and order from his breast, threw them 
on the ground, and instantly dismissed him the 
service ; this spirit pleased the soldiers, and they 
all shouted "Vive le Roi ! " 

On Saturday we went to St. Cloud, Versailles, 
and the great and little Trianon. St. Cloud and 
the great Trianon were the especial residences 
of Buonaparte, and I looked at his bed and tables 
and chairs with some curiosity. I have not time to 
describe all these. I saw one public place yester- 
day which should be mentioned, a museum of 
models in every department of art and science, with 
all the machines, &;c., connected with them. I 
would willingly conclude my observations on Paris 
with some remarks on its manners, principles, &c., 
and I would begin with Religion first if I could, but 
the fact is there appears to be none. If any does 
exist it must approximate to Mysticism and lie 
concealed in the recesses of the heart, for truly " the 
right hand knoweth not what the left hand doeth." 
But with all this non-appearance I should be 
cautious in passing too severe a censure. It must 
be remembered that the nation is military, that 
from the earliest years they " sing of arms," and 
Buonaparte carried this to such a degree that 
even children not much older than Owen ^ are 
to be seen in full Uniforms. He wished to in- 
corporate the two terms of man and soldier. We 
' Eldest son of Edward Stanley, b. 1811. 



1814] INFANT REGIMENTS 141 

laughed, you remember, at the account of the little 
King of Rome appearing in Uniform ; in Paris this 
would not appear ridiculous. He had uniforms 
of all the favourite regiments horse and foot. . . . 
But yet there appears to be less vice than in 
England, I should rather say less organised vice ; I 
have not heard of a single Robbery, public or 
private — I walk without fear of pickpockets ; I 
should be inclined to say they seemed rather 
against themselves than against each other. Their 
principles may be more relaxed on some points than 
ours, but I doubt much whether a Frenchman 
would not be as much disgusted in England as an 
Englishman could possibly be in France ; we call 
them a profligate race and condemn them in toto — 
something like Hudibras' John Bull — 



" Compounds for sin he is inclined to 
By damning those he has no mind to." 



Their public walks and Theatres are less offensive 
to decency than ours. Drunkenness is scarcely 
known ; at first sight I should pronounce them an 
idle, indolent people ; the streets are almost always 
full ; the gardens, public walks, &c., swarm at all 
hours with saunterers. According to my ideas a 
Frenchman's life must be wretched, for he does not 
seem at all to enter into the charms of home — their 
houses are not calculated for it ; they huddle to- 
gether in nooks and corners, and the male part 
(judging from the multitudes I daily see) leave the 



142 BEFOEE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

women and children to get through the day as they 
can. 

Their coffee-houses are some of them quite 
extraordinary ; most of them are ornamented with 
Mirrors in abundance, but some shine with more 
splendour. In the Palais Royal there is one called 
" Le Cafe de mille Colonnes," which merits some 
description. It consists of three or four rooms — 
the largest is almost one mass of plate-glass 
Mirrors, beautiful clocks at each end, and magnifi- 
cent chandeliers ; behind a raised Table of most 
superb structure, composed of slabs of marble and 
plate-glass, sat a lady dressed in the richest manner, 
Diamonds on head and hand, Lace, Muslin, &c. 
This is the Landlady ; by her a little boy, about 
4 years old, stood in charge of a drawer from 
whence the small change was issued ; this, if it 
happened to be copper, was delicately touched by 
the fair hand, which was immediately washed in a 
glass of water as if contaminated by the vulgar 
metal. She never spoke to the waiters, but rung a 
golden bell ; her inkstands, flower jars — in short, 
every article on the table was of the same metal or 
of silver gilt. The tables for the company were 
fine marble slabs ; the room was from the reflection 
of all the mirrors, as you may suppose, a perfect 
blaze of light, and yet altogether the place looked 
dirty, from the undress and shabby coats of the 
company. The French never dress for the evening 
unless going out to parties, and they always look 
dirty and unlike gentlemen ; the former is not the 



iil'IIV 




1814] THE CATACOMBS 143 

case, in fact for they are constantly washing and 
bathing. An hour or two before I was in this 
extraordinary coffee-house I had traversed a spot 
as opposite to it as could well be — the Catacombs ! — 
a range of vaults nearly half a mile long, about 
80 feet under ground, in which are deposited all the 
bones from all the cemeteries in Paris. I suppose 
we were in company with some millions of skele- 
tons, whose skulls are so arranged as to form regular 
patterns, and here and there was an altar made of 
bones fancifully piled up, on the sides an inscrip- 
tion in Latin, French, &c. Behind one wall the 
bodies of all who perished in the massacres in Paris 
were immured. They were brought in carts at 
night and thrown in, and there they rest, festering 
not in their shrouds but in clothes. Such a mass of 
corrupt flesh would soon have infested all the vaults, 
so they were bricked up. 

I wish to recommend our hotel to any people you 
may hear of coming to Paris — Hotel des Estrangers, 
Rue du Hazard, kept by Mr. Meriel. Its situation 
is both quiet and convenient ; it is really not five 
minutes' walk from the leading objects of Paris, and 
the people have been civil to us beyond measure. 



CHAPTER IV 

ON THE TRACK OF NAPOLEON'S ARMY 

The Ex-Imperial Guard — Anecdotes of the last days at Fontaine- 
bleau — Invalided Cossacks — " Trahison " — Ruin and 
desolation — Roast dog — An English soldier — A Trappist 
veteran — Jack boots — Polytechnic cadets — A Russian 
officer — Cossacks, Kalmucks, and sparrows— Prussians and 
British lions — Rhine Castles — Rival inscriptions — Diligence 
atmosphere — Brisemaison — Sociable English . 

ON leaving Paris, Edward Stanley planned to 
follow the traces of the desperate campaign 
which Napoleon had fought in the early months of 
that year (1814) against the Allies, and in which he 
so nearly succeeded in saving his crown for a time. 
As, however, the English travellers did not 
intend to return again to Paris, they reversed 
Napoleon's line of march and started to Fontaine- 
bleau by the road along which the Emperor rode 
back in hot haste on the night of March 30th, to 
take up the command of the force which should 
have been defending his capital, and where the 
sight of Mortier's flying troops convinced him that 
all hope was at an end. 



1814] SCENES OF THE LATE CAMPAIGN 145 

When they had visited Fontainebleau, where the 
final abdication had taken place on April nth, they 
turned north-east to Melun and posted on through 
towns which had been the scenes of some of the 
most desperate fighting in that wonderful campaign, 
when Napoleon had seemed to be everywhere at 
once, dealing blows right and left against the three 
armies which, in the beginning of January, had 
advanced to threaten his Empire — Biilow in the 
north, Blucher on the east, and Schwarzenberg on 
the south. 

They passed through Guignes and Meaux, by 
which Napoleon's army had marched after his victory 
over BRicher at Vauchamps on February 14th, in 
the rapid movement to reinforce Marshal Victor, and 
to drive back Schwarzenberg from the Seine. 

Through Chateau Thierry, where on the 12th of 
February the Emperor and Marshal Mortier had 
pursued Russians and Prussians from street to 
street till they were driven over the Marne, and 
whence the French leader dashed after Bliicher to 
Vauchamps. 

Through Soissons, which the Russians under 
Winzengerode had bombarded on March 3rd, and 
forced to surrender, whereby Blucher and Biilow 
were enabled to join hands. 

Through Laon, where Blucher retreated after 
Craonne, and where he finally shattered Marmont's 
forces in a night attack. 

By Berry au Bac, where the Emperor crossed 
the Aisne on his way to fight Bliicher at Craonne, 

10 



146 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

the scene on March 7th of one of the bloodiest 
battles of the war. 

On to Rheims where, after Marmont's disaster at 
Laon, Napoleon beat the Russians just before he 
was forced to rush southwards again to contend 
with Schwarzenbero; and his Austrians. 

Finally they reached Chalons, which had been 
Napoleon's starting-point for the whole campaign, 
and where he had arrived in the closing days of 
January after having taken his last farewell 01 
Marie Louise and of the King of Rome. 

After Chalons they turned eastwards, following 
the line of fortresses for which Napoleon had staked 
and lost his crown, and reached the Rhine by 
Verdun, Metz, and Mayence ; thence to Aix-la- 
Chapelle, Lille, and Brussels, which had by the 
Treaty of Paris, in May, been ceded with the whole 
of Belgium to the Netherlands. 



•t3* 



Edward Stanley to his Wife. 

Melun, July i^ih. 

We quitted our Hotel yesterday morning at six 
for Fontainebleau. 

There is nothing particularly interesting about the 
road, which is almost an incessant avenue. About half- 
way we passed a fine Chateau of Marshal Jourdan's. 

The forest of Fontainebleau commences about 
four miles from the town and extends some nine or 
ten miles in all directions. At first I was in hopes 
of being gratified with the sight of fine woods, but, 



1814] A STAUNCH IMPERIALIST 147 

with the exception of a few patches of good oaks, 
the remainder is little better than underwood and 
dwarflings. 

We went into the heart of the forest to see an old 
Hermitage now inhabited by a keeper and his 
family. They had been visited by Cossacks, but 
had received no injury whatever ; on the contrary 
the poor woman related with all the eloquence of 
Truth and the French animation that from their 
own soldiers they had suffered all that cruelty and 
rapacity could devise — indeed, the house and gardens 
bore evidence to the facts — window shutters pierced 
with bullets, broken doors, furniture gone, and 
above 800 francs' worth of honey destroyed out of 
pure wantonness — in short the poor people seemed 
quite ruined. I received a similar account in the 
town. Fontainebleau is a dull, melancholy-looking 
place, with a very extensive ugly palace — interesting 
only from the late events. Scarcely a soul appeared 
about ; we crossed the large court in which 
Buonaparte took his last farewell and embraced the 
Imperial Eagles, called by some loyal French 
"The vile Cuckoos." Our hostess was, I presume, 
a staunch imperialist, who thought she could not 
shew her zeal for the Emperor in a stronger manner 
than by imposing on Englishmen, She began by 
asking i6s. for a plate of 8 little wretched mutton 
chops ; we resented the imposition, although the 
sudden appearance of 4 or 5 officers of the imperial 
guard almost rendered it doubtful whether we 
ought to act too warmly on the defensive, as they 



148 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

seemed to patronise our hostess ; however, we 
refused to pay and retired unimposed upon. 

The imperial guard here are supposed to be par- 
ticularly attached to the Emperor, and of course 
averse to Englishmen, but I was agreeably sur- 
prised to find three out of the four really something 
like gentlemen in their manners; we entered into 
conversation, which I managed as dexterously as I 
could, manoeuvering between the evil of sacrificing 
my own opinions on one side, and of giving them 
offence on the other ; it was a nice point, as I 
perceived a word beyond the line of demarcation 
would have inflamed them in a trice. One happened 
to differ with another on a political point, which 
produced a loud and rapid stamping with the feet, 
accompanied by a course of pirouets on the heel 
with the velocity of a dervish, which fully proved 
what might be effected on their tempers had I been 
disposed to try the experiment. They called them- 
selves the Ex- Imperial Guard. On retiring I shook 
hands with them, and with as low a bow as the 
little King of Rome, said " Messieurs les Gardes 
d'Honneur, Je vous salue." . . . 

Letter VI L 

Monday, July i()th. 

. . . The history of Buonaparte immediately pre- 
ceding, and subsequent to the surrender of Paris, 
was never actually known — I will give it you. 

The capitulation took place on the 30th (March). 
In the evening of that day he arrived at Fontaine- 



1814] BUONAPARTE'S ABDICATION 149 

bleau without his army. Rumours of fighting near 
Paris had reached him. He almost immediately set 
off with Berthier in his carriage for Paris, and 
actually arrived at Villejuif, only 6 miles from the 
capital ; when he heard the result he turned about 
and appeared again at Fontainebleau at 9 the next 
morning. When he alighted, the person who 
handed him out, a sort of head-porter of the Palace, 
who was our guide, told me he looked "triste, bien 
triste " ; he spoke to nobody, went upstairs as fast as 
he could, and then called for his plans and maps ; 
his occupation during the whole time he staid con- 
sisted in writing and looking over papers, but to 
what this writing and these papers related the world 
may feel but will never know ; his spirits were by 
no means broken down ; in a day or two he was 
pretty much as usual, and it is said he signed the 
Abdication without the least apparent emotion. We 
heard he was mad, but I can assure you from 
undoubted authority that he was perfectly well in 
mind and body the whole time, and, notwithstanding 
his excessive fatigues, as corpulent as ever ; indeed, 
said our guide, " War seems to agree with him 
better than with any man I ever knew." Buonaparte 
laid out immense sums in furnishing and beautifying 
the Palais here. I got into his library, the snuggest 
room you ever saw, immediately below a little study 
in which he always sat and settled his affairs ; his 
arm-chair was a very comfortable, honest, plain arm- 
chair, but I looked in vain for all the gashes and 
notches which it was said he was wont to inflict 



150 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

upon it. I could not perceive a scratch, he was too 
busily employed in that said chair in forming plans 
for cutting up Europe ; within three yards of his 
table was a little door, or rather trap door, by which 
you descended down the oddest spiral staircase you 
ever beheld into the Library, which was low and 
small ; the books were few of them new, almost all 
standard works upon history — at least I am sure 
4 out of 5 were historical — all of his own selection, 
and each stamped, as in fact was everything else from 
high to low, far and wide, with his N., or his Bees 
or his Eagle — all of which Louis XVIII is as busily 
employed in effacing, which alone will give him 
ample employment : but to return to the books. 
Amongst the rest I found — Shakespeare . . . and a 
whole range of Ecclesiastical History, which, if ever 
read, might account in some degree for his shutting 
up the Pope as the existing representative of the 
animals who have occasioned half the feuds and 
divisions therein recorded. There was a Chapel, 
which he regularly attended on Sundays and Saints' 
days. His State bed was a sort of State business, 
very uncomfortable, consisting of 5 or 6 mattresses 
under a royal canopy with 2 Satin Pillows at each 
end. 

During his residence he never stirred beyond the 
eates, thouoh I could not discover that he was at all 
under restraint, or in any way looked upon as a 
prisoner; we were told in England (what are we not 
told there?) that he feared the people, who would 
have torn him in pieces ; this is an idle story. I 



1814] NAPOLEON AT FONTAINEBLEAU 151 

rather suspect the people liked him too well, besides 
which his Guards were there, and by them he is 
idolised. He generally took exercise in a long and 
beautiful Gallery, called the Gallery of Francis I. 
on both sides of which were busts of his great 
Generals on panels ornamented with the N., and 
some name above alluding to a victory ; thus above 
one N.was Nazareth, which puzzled me at first, but 
I afterwards heard he had cut up some Turks there ; 
besides the Gallery, he walked every day up and 
down a Terrace ; he dined every day in a miserable 
(I speak comparatively) little passage room without 
any shew of state ; he was affable to his attendants 
and is liked by them. His abdication room is not 
one of the state apartments — it is a shabby ante- 
room ; I could almost fancy that in performing this 
humiliating deed he had retired as far as possible 
from the Halls and Saloons which were decorated 
by his hand, and had witnessed his Imperial magni- 
ficence. Most of the Marshals were in the room, 
and it would have been a tour indeed to have 
"•lided throuo^h the hearts of each when such an 
extraordinary performance was transacting. It was 
in the great Court before the Palace that he took 
his leave, not above 1,500 troops were present. 
At such a moment to have heard such a speech, 
delivered with the dignity and stage effect Buonaparte 
well knew how to give, must have produced a strong 
effect — how great (how sad I had almost said) the 
contrast ! 

The stones were overgrown with grass ; nobody 



152 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

appeared, no voice was heard except the clacking of 
half a dozen old women who were weeding on their 
knees, and all the windows were closed. The 
dreary, deserted present compared with the magnifi- 
cent past excited nearly the same feelings as if I 
had been looking on Tadmor in the wilderness. 
After passing the Imperial prison we were ushered 
into the apartments of the Imperial prisoners, the 
poor Pope and his i6 Cardinals. I had quite 
forgotten the place of their confinement, and was a 
little surprised when the man said, " Here, Sir, 
dwelt for 19 months the holy Conclave of St. Peter." 
He must have led a miserable life, for though he 
was allowed two carriages, with 6 and 8 horses to 
each, he neither stirred out himself nor allowed any 
of the Cardinals to so do, saying he did not think it 
right for prisoners. Buonaparte saw him in January, 
I think the man said, for the last time. So much 
for Fontainebleau. Few have followed their master 
to Elba. Roustan the Mameluke and Constant his 
Valet were certainly very ungrateful ; one of them 
— I forget which — to whom Buonaparte had given 
25,000 fr. (about ^1,200) the day before he left 
Fontainebleau, applied to the Due de Berri for 
admission into his service ; in reply the Due told 
him his oratitude ouo-ht to have carried him to Elba, 
but though it had not, if he (the Duke) ever heard 
that Buonaparte wished to have him there, he would 
bind him hand and foot and send him immediately. 
None of the Royal allies have been to Fontainebleau 
at the time or since, except the King of Prussia, 



1814] RELIC OF THE KING OF PRUSSIA 153 

who came incog, a few days ago. This the guide 
said he had heard since ; he had, indeed, seen three 
persons walking about, but he had not shewn them 
the Palace nor spoken to them. That it was the 
King of Prussia was confirmed by a curious little 
memorandum I found wafered over a high glass on 
the top of the room in which we dined, and which 
caught my eye immediately ; I shewed it to the 
people of the house, who said they had not observed 
it before, but remembered three gentlemen dining 
there on that day. " Sa Majeste le Roi de Prusse 
accompagne du Prince Guillaume son fils a dine en 
cette appartement avec son premier Chambellan 
Mr. Baron D'Ambolle, le 8 Juillet, 1814." . . . This 
is the way the King of Prussia always went about 
in Paris, nobody knew him or saw him. . . . 

From Fontainebleau we went to Melun and kept 
proceeding through Guignes to Meaux. At Guignes 
we began to hear of the effects of war : 15,000 
Russians had been bivouacked above the town for a 
week. Buonaparte advanced with his troops, on 
which they retired, but troops do not walk up and 
down the earth like lambs, but rather like roaring 
lions, seeking whom they may devour ; however, 
here let us insert once for all the account I have 
invariably received from sufferers throughout the 
whole Theatre of war — that the conduct of the 
Russians and French was widely different ; the 
former generally behaving as well as could possibly 
be expected, and pillaging only from necessity ; 
the latter seem to have made havoc and devastation 



154 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

their delight. They might perhaps act on principle, 
conceivinof that it was better for the treasure and 
good things of the land to fall into their hands than 
the enemy's. 

At a little shabby inn at Guignes where we break- 
fasted Buonaparte had slept. The people described 
him dressed " comme un perruquier " in a grey great- 
coat ; he clattered into the house, bustled about, 
went to his room early, and appeared again at 9 the 
next morning, but " J'en reponds bien " that he was 
not sleeping all that time. If from Guignes we 
traversed a country where we heard of war, at 
Meaux we began to see the effects — before a 
picturesque gateway we descended to cross the 
bridge over a stone arch which had been blown 
up. Shot-holes marked the wall, and within the 
houses were well bespattered with musket balls. 
It was the first visible field of battle we had crossed, 
and to heighten the interest, while we were looking 
about and asking particulars of the people, up came 
bands of Russian troops of all descriptions, Cossacks 
included, 1,500 having just entered the town in- 
valided from Paris on their return home. To be 
sure, a more filthy set I never beheld. The country 
is pretty well stocked with Cossack horses ; they 
were purchased at a very cheap rate — from 25 
shillings to 50 a piece. We have had several of 
them in our carriage, and find them far more 
active and rapid than the French, though smaller 
and more miserable in appearance. My conversa- 
tion with the Russians (for I made it a point to 



1814] EXPLOSION AT MEAITX 155 

speak to everybody) was rather laconic, and gene- 
rally ran thus, " Vous Russe, moi Inglis " — the 
answer, "You Inglis, moi Russe, we brothers" — 
and then I generally got a tap on the shoulder 
and a broad grin of approbation which terminated 
the conference. 

You know the chief event which occurred at 
Meaux was the explosion of the powder magazines 
by the French on their retreat, for which they were 
most severely, and, I think, unjustly, censured in 
our despatches — indeed, after seeing and hearing 
with my own eyes and ears, I feel less than ever 
inclined to put implicit faith in these public docu 
ments. The Magazine was in a large house where 
wines had been stored in the cellar — about half a 
mile to the west of the town upon a hill. About 
3 o'clock in the morning the explosion took place 
with an '^ dbranlement''' which shook the town to its 
very foundation. In an instant every pane of glass 
was shattered to atoms, but the cathedral windows, 
which were composed of small squares in lead, 
escaped tolerably well, only here and there some 
patches being forced out. The tiles also partook 
of the ofeneral crash. Manv, of course, were broken 
by the shower of shot, stones, &c., which fell, but 
the actual concussion destroyed the greater part. 
Numbers of houses were remaining in their di- 
lapidated state, and presented a curious scene. We 
went to see the spot where the house stood, for the 
house itself, like the temple of Loretto, disappeared 
altogether. Some others near it were on their last 



156 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

legs — top, beams, doors, all blown away. Even the 
trees in a garden were in part thrown down, and 
the larger ones much excoriated. Only one person 
was killed on the spot, supposed to have been a 
marauder who was pillaging near the place. Another 
person about half a mile off, driving away his furni- 
ture to a place of safety, was wounded, and died 
soon afterwards. 

From Meaux, I may say almost all the way to 
Chalons, a distance of above 1 50 miles, the country 
bore lamentable marks of the scourge with which 
it has been afflicted. I will allow you — I would 
allow myself perhaps, when I look back to the 
circumstances connected with the war — to wish 
that all the country, Paris included, had been 
sacked and pillaged as a just punishment, or rather 
as the sole mode of convincing these infatuated 
people that they are the conquered and not the 
Conqueror of the Allies. Wherever I go, whatever 
field of battle I see — be it Craon, Laon, Soissons, 
or elsewhere — victory is never accorded to the 
Russians. " Oh non, les Russes etaient toujours 
vaincus." One fellow who had been one of Buona- 
parte's guides at Craon had the impudence to 
assure me that the moment he appeared the Allies 
ran away. "Aye, but," said I, "how came the 
French to retreat and leave them alone ? " " Oh, 
because just then the trahison which had been all 
arranged 19 months before began to appear." 

Again, at Laon I was assured that the French 
drove all before them, and gained the heights. 



1814] CHATEAU THIERRY 157 

" Then," said I, "why did not they stay there?" 
" Oh, then reappeared 'la petite trahison,' " and so 
they go on, and well do they deserve, and heartily 
do I wish, to have their pride and impudence 
lowered. But when I see what war is, when I see 
the devastation this comet bears in its sweeping tail, 
its dreadful impartiality involving alike the innocent 
and the guilty, I should be very sorry if it depended 
on me to pronounce sentence, or cry " havoc and 
let loose." . . . 

On the 14th we slept at Chateau Thierry — such 
an Inn, and such insolent pigs of people ! Spain 
was scarcely worse . . . added to the filthiness of 
the place, a diligence happened at the same time to 
pour forth its contents in the shape of a crew of the 
most vulgar, dirty French officers I ever saw. It 
was well we had no communication with them, for 
by the conversation I overheard in the next room 
there would have been little mutual satisfaction : 
" Oh ! voici un regiment (alluding to us 5) de ces 
Anglois dans la maison ! ou vont-ils les Coquins .'* " 
" Moi je ne sais pas, les vilains ! " Luckily they all 
tumbled upstairs to bed very soon, each with a cigar 
smoking and puffing from beneath the penthouse of 
their huge moustachios, during their ascent, by 
the by, keeping the Landlady in hot water lest they 
should break into her best bedroom, of which she 
carefully kept the key, telling me at the same time 
she was afraid of their insisting upon having clean 
sheets. By their appearance, however, I did not 
conceive her to be in much danger of so unfair a 



158 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

demand. We had the clean sheets, damp enough, 
but no matter — she remembered them in the Bill 
most handsomely, and when I remonstrated against 
some of her charges, for I must observe that we 
dined in a wretched hole with our postillions, she 
checked me by saying, " Comment, Monsieur, c 'est 
trop ! Cela ne se peut pas ; comme tout ici est si 
charmant." . . . There was no reply to be made 
to such an appeal, so I bowed, paid, and retired. 
Then the bridge was blown up, the streets speckled 
with bullets. Near the bridge, which had been 
smartly contested, the houses were actually riddled, 
yet here the Emperor stood exposed as quiet and 
unconcerned amidst the balls as if (to use their own 
expression) he had been " chez lui." 

As we advanced the marks of war became 
stronger and stronger, every village wore a rueful 
aspect, and every individual told a tale more and 
more harrowing to the feelings. The Postmasters 
seem to have been the greatest sufferers, as their 
situation demanded a large supply of corn, horses 
and forage, all of which, even to the chickens, were 
carried oft. One poor woman, wife of a post- 
master, a very well-behaved, gentlewoman-like sort 
of person, told me that when 80,000 Russians came 
to their town she escaped into the woods (you will 
remember the snow was then deep on the ground 
and the cold excessive) where for two days she and 
her family had nothing to eat. The Cossacs then 
found her, but did no harm, only asking for food. 
I mention her case not as singular, for it was the 



1814] RUIN AND DESOLATION 159 

lot of thousands, but merely to shew what people 
must expect when Enemies approach. 

Soissons was the next place, and compared with 
the scene of desolation there presented all that we 
had hitherto seen was trifling. 

I little thought last February that in July I 
should witness such superlatively interesting scenes. 
With the exception of Elba alone, ours has been the 
very best tour that could have been taken, and 
exactly at the right time, for I apprehend that 
a month ago we could not have passed the 
country. . . . 

Letter VI I L 

M AVENGE, July 22nd. 

Our speed outstrips my pen. I am to retrace our 
steps to Soissons, whereas here we are upon the 
banks of the Rhine, which is hurrying majestically 
by to terminate its course amongst the dykes of 
Holland. 

The nearer we came to Soissons^ the nearer we 
perceived we were to the field of some terrible 
contest, and the suburbs, where the thickest of the 
fight took place, presented a frightful picture of war, 
not a house entire. It seems they were unroofed 
for the convenience of the attacking party, or set 
on fire, an operation which took up a very short 
space of time, thanks to the energetic labours of 
about 50 or 60,000 men. Indeed, fire and sword 

' Soissons had been taken in February by the Russians under 
Winzingerode. 



160 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

had done their utmost — burnt beams, battered 
doors, not a vestige of furniture or window frames. 
I cannot give you a better idea of the quantity of 
shot, and consequent number of beings who must 
have perished, than by assuring you that on one 
front of a house about the extent of our home, and 
which was not more favoured than its neighbours, 
I counted between 2 and 300 bullet marks. I was 
leaning against a bit of broken wall in a garden, 
which appeared to be the doorway to a sort of 
cellar, taking a sketch, when the gardener came 
up and gave me some particulars of the fight. He 
pointed to this cave or cellar as the place of shelter 
in which he and 44 others had been concealed, every 
moment dreading a discovery which, whether by 
friend or foe, they looked upon as equally fatal. 
Fortunately the foe were the discoverers. Upon 
the termination of the battle, which had been 
favourable to the Allies, in came a parcel of 
Russians upon the trembling peasants. Con- 
ceiving it to be a hiding-place for French soldiers, 
they rushed upon them, but finding none, satisfied 
themselves with asking what business they had 
there, and turning them out to find their way 
through blood and slaughter to some more secure 
place of shelter. A small mill pool had been so 
completely choked with dead that they were obliged 
to let off the water and clean it out. With Sir 
Charles Stuart's dispatches cut out of the Maccles- 
field Paper we ascended the Cathedral, and from 
thence, as upon a map, traced out the operations of 



1814] AN UNWARY GENERAL 161 

both armies. Soissons is half surrounded by the 
Aisne, and stands on a fine plain, upon which the 
Russians displayed. Buonaparte, in one of his 
Bulletins, abuses a governor who allowed the 
Allies to take possession of the town when he 
was in pursuit, thus giving them a passage over 
the river, adding that had that governor done his 
duty the Russians might have been cut off. In 
England this was all voted "leather and prunello" 
and a mere vapouring opinion of the Emperor's, but 
as far as I could observe he was perfectly right, and 
had the governor been acting under my orders I 
question much whether I should not have hanged 
him. In looking about we were shewn a sort of 
town hall, with windows ornamented with the most 
beautiful painted glass you ever saw — nice little 
figures, trophies, landscapes, &c. — but a party of 
Russians had unfortunately been lodged there, and 
the glass was almost all smashed. I procured a 
specimen, but alas ! portmanteaus are not the best 
packing-cases for glass, and in my possession it 
fared little better than with the Cossacks. How- 
ever, if it is pulverised, I will bring it home as 
a Souvenir. . . . 

From Soissons to Laon the country is uninterest- 
ing except from the late events. With the exception 
of the first view of the plain and town of Laon, we 
passed village after village in the same state of ruin 
and dilapidation. Chavignon, about 4 miles from 
Laon, seemed, however, to have been more particu- 
larly the object of vengeance ; it was throughout 

XI 



162 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

nearly a repetition of the suburbs of Soissons. 
Laon rises like a sort of Gibraltar from a rich and 
beautiful plain covered with little woods, vineyards, 
villages, and cornfields ; the summit is crowned with 
an old castle, the town with its Cathedral towers 
and a parcel of windmills. Buonaparte had been 
extremely anxious to dislodge the allies ; for two 
days made a furious and almost incessant attack, 
which was fortunately unsuccessful owing, to speak 
in French terms, to la petite trakison, in plain 
English, the bravery of the Russians, who not only 
withstood the repeated shocks, but pursued the 
enemy all the way to Soissons, every little copse 
and wood becoming a scene of contest, and the 
whole plain was strewed with dead. Since quitting 
Rouen I do not recollect any town at all to be com- 
pared with Laon either in point of scenery without 
or picturesque beauty within ; it is one of the most 
curious old places I ever saw — Round Towers, Gate- 
ways, &c. We took up our quarters at an odd-look- 
ing Inn, with the nicest people we had met with for 
some time. They spoke with horror of the miseries 
they had undergone in this Inn, not much larger 
than Cutts' at Wilmslow ; they had daily to feed 
and accommodate for upwards of two months 150 
Russians of all descriptions, and this at a moment 
when provisions were, of course, extremely dear. 
The landlord's daughter with two friends were 
imprisoned, actually afraid of putting their noses 
beyond the keyhole ; luckily they could make 
artificial flowers, and two of them drew remarkably 



1814] ROAST DOG 163 

well ; a favourite dog of the landlord's was their 
companion. A Cossack had one day taken him by 
the tail with the firm intent to put him on the 
kitchen fire, the bare recollection of which kindled 
all our host's anger, and he declared that had his 
poor dog been roasted, though he well knew the 
consequence, he should have shot the Cossack ; 
fortunately the dog escaped, but as his Master 
assured me, never smelt or heard a Cossack's name 
mentioned afterwards without popping his tail 
between his leos and makinsf off with the utmost 
speed. Both at this place and at Soissons we met 
with people with whom Davenport ^ had lodged, and 
in both places he has established a character which 
reflects the highest credit on his activity, humanity, 
and generosity. He was no idle spectator ; he 
went about endeavouring by every means in his 
power to alleviate the miseries of war by protecting 
persons and property, and by administering to the 
wants of the sick and wounded of every descrip- 
tion. . . . 

On the 1 6th we quitted Laon for Berry au Bac, 
passing through Corbeny and close to the heights 
of Craon, upon which a battle was fought which 
might be considered as the coup de grace to the 
French. ^ The Emperor commanded in person ; he 
talked nearly half an hour with the Postmaster, 
whom he summoned before him ; if the man spoke 
truth, his conversation appears to have been rather 
childish. After asking many questions about the 

^ E. D. Davenport, Esq., of Capesthorne, Cheshire, 1778-1847. 



164 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

roads and country, he vented a torrent of abuse 
against the Russians, upon whom he assured the 
Postmaster it was his intention to inflict summary 
punishment, and, indeed, according to the French 
translation of the business, he actually did so, tho 
I never could find out that any other of the Imperial 
troops remained to enjoy the victory on these said 
heights, saving and except the wounded and killed ; 
one spot was pointed out where in one grave 
were deposited the remains of 3,000. . . . 

In this village of Corbeny there had been sad 
devastation ; but it was at Berry au Bac that we 
were to see the superlative degree of misery. This 
unfortunate little town had been captured 7 times — 
4 times by the Russians, 3 times by the French ; their 
bridge, a beautiful work of 3 arches, only completed 
in December, was blown up March 19. The houses 
fared no better ; whole streets were annihilated — 
chiefly for the sake of burning the beams for fire- 
wood by the Russians — but the walls were in great 
measure knocked over by the French, for what 
other purpose than wanton cruelty I could not learn. 
Pillage and violence of every description had been 
excessive. Some of the inhabitants died of pure 
fright ; a gentlemanlike-looking man assured me his 
own father was of the number. Even here the 
Cossacks were complimented for their comparative 
good behaviour, while the French and the Emperor 
were justly execrated — "Plait a Dieu" said a poor 
man who stood moaning over the ruins of his cottage, 
" Plait a Dieu, qu'il soit mort, et qu'on n'entendit 



CO 



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1814] "A KIND ENEMY 165 

plus de Napoleon " ; — the old woman, his wife, told 
me they only feared the Cossacks when they were 
drunk. An old Cossack had taken up his quarters 
with them — " Ah c etait un bon Viellard ; un bon 
Papa." 

One day a party of 20 or 30 drunken Cossacks 
broke into their yard, and insisted on entering the 
house ; the old woman said she had nothing to fear 
and would have opened the door, but the Cossack 
seized her, saying, " There is but one way to save 
you," and taking her by the arm, shewed her to his 
companions as his prize and threatened the man who 
should touch his property with instant death. They 
did not dispute the matter with him and retired 
quietly. When they were out of sight he told her to 
follow him, and led her 3 or 4 miles up the country 
amongst the woods and left her in a place of safety, 
taking a kind leave of her and saying, *T have done 
all I could for you, now farewell " — and she saw no 
more of him. . . . 

We arrived at Rheims on the evening of the 
1 6th, a large, fine, regular, dull-looking city in a dull- 
looking plain. The Cathedral is grand enough, but I 
felt no wish to remain till the Coronation. Hitherto 
we had seen inanimate vestiges of war, at Rheims 
we were to see the living effects. By accident we 
passed the door of a large Church or Hall which 
had been converted into an Hospital for 400 
Russian prisoners, and on benches near the porch 
were seated some convalescent patients without 
arms or legs. We stopped to speak to them as well 



166 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

as we could, and upon saying we were Englanders, 
one of the Russians with evident rapture and un- 
feigned dehght made signs that there was a British 
soldier amongst their number, and immediately 4 or 
5 of them ran to bring him out ; and such a poor 
object did appear dragged along, his legs withered 
away and emaciated to the last degree. He had 
been wounded at St. Jean de Luz in the thigh, and 
subsequently afflicted with a fever which had thus 
deprived him of the use of his limbs. We gave 
something to those who were nearest, and on my 
asking if any Prussian was there to whom I could 
speak in French, as I wished to express our desire 
but inability to relieve all, I was conducted through 
the wards to a miserable beino- who was seated with 
his head suspended in a sling from the top of the 
bed, both legs dreadfully shattered, and unable to 
support himself upright through extreme weakness. 
During the whole of supper-time the Hospital 
and this Englishman hung heavy on my mind ; I 
felt as if I had not done enough, and that I might 
be of use in writing to his friends. Accordingly 
about 10 o'clock I went again to the Gate and 
begged admittance. On mentioning my wish to see 
the Englishman, I was immediately allowed to 
enter, and conducted up the wards. On each side 
were small beds, clean, and in admirable order ; 
there was nothing to interrupt the silence but our 
own echoing footsteps and the groans of the poor 
patients all round. The Nurses were in the costume 
of Nuns, and from religious principles undertake 



1814] A WOUNDED ENGLISHMAN 167 

the care of the sick — there was something very- 
awful in marching up the aisles with these con- 
ductors at this time. My poor countryman was 
asleep when I came to his bedside. I took down 
memorandums of his case, and promised to write 
to his friends, and left him money to assist him on 
his road home, should he (of which I much doubt) 
ever recover. 

I staid with him some time ; in the course of the 
conversation some wounded Prussians came up on 
their crutches, and it was quite gratifying to see 
their kindness and goodwill to this poor fellow who, 
sole of his nation and kindred, was wasting away 
amongst strangers. They patted him on his head, 
called him their cher and bon garcon, lifted him up 
that he might see and hear better, and he assured 
me that by them and by all the attendants he was 
treated with the utmost kindness and attention. 
Amongst 400 wounded soldiers whose deep groans 
and ghastly countenances announced that many 
were almost passing the barrier which separates the 
mortal from the immortal, with their nurses by my 
side holding their glimmering tapers, each arrayed 
in the order of their religion and wearing the Cross 
as the badge of their profession, was a situation in 
which I had never before been placed. In offering- 
ministerial advice, and, I trust, affording religious 
consolation under circumstances so solemn and 
peculiar, you may conceive that I did speak with all 
the earnestness and fervour in my power. I told 
the nurses who and what I was, and so far from 



1G8 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

entertaining" any illiberal ideas as to the propriety 
of my interfering in what might be called their 
clerical department, they expressed the greatest 
pleasure and seemed to rejoice that their patient 
was visited by one of his own ministers. . . . Thus 
ended my visit to the Hospital at Rheims, which I 
never can forget. 

We travelled the next day to Verdun, bidding 
adieu to the Hibberts at Chalons. 

You will ask if we have seen any vestiges of war 
on the soil such as bodies. We have met with a 
tolerable quantity of dead horses by the roadside 
and in ditches, but only one human being, half 
scratched up by a dog, has appeared ; a few rags of 
uniform dangling upon the skeleton bones called 
our attention to it. 

Verdun is a very comfortable town of consider- 
able extent decently fortified ; the number of 
English there was from i,ooo to i,ioo; they were 
all sent off in a hurry. At 5 in the evening they 
received the order, at 7 the next morning the 
greater part were off, and 24 hours afterward the 
Allies hovered round the town. The French boast, 
and nobody can contradict the assertion, that the 
Allies were never able to take their fortresses ; 
certainly not ; for they never attempted. Instead 
of losing their time in besieging, they left a few to 
mark the place and went on. . . . The English 
prisoners seem to have enjoyed every comfort they 
could expect — in fact, their imprisonment was in 
great measure nominal ; with little difficulty they 



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1814] EXTRA PASSENGERS 169 

were allowed to go as far as the)' wished ; they 
were noticed by the inhabitants, and many have 
married and settled in France. i think the 
prisoners in England have not been so well off, 
and complain with reason. 

We went to the English church and Theatre, 
and saw as much as we could for half a day. For 
the honor of my country,^ lament to say that many 
here contracted heavy debts which are not likely to 
be paid. Some instances were mentioned, the 
truth of which were proved by letters I read from 
the parties themselves, little creditable to our 
national character, and by persons, too, who ought 
to have known better. On the i8th we left Verdun 
for Metz. I had always winked at and generally 
encouraged the addition of another passenger 
behind our Cabriolet. The road was quite crowded 
with straggling soldiers going or returning to their 
several homes or regiments. We rarely passed in 
a day less than 2 or 300, and really sometimes in 
situations so very favorable to robbing that I am 
surprised we were never attacked, their appearance 
being generally stamped with a character perfectly 
congenial to the Banditti Trade — dark, whiskered, 
sunburnt visages, with ragged uniform and naked 
feet. Sometimes we were more fortunate than at 
others ; for instance, stragglers from the Hamburg 
garrison, whose wan faces bore testimony to the 
fact they related of having lived for the last 4 or 5 
months on horseflesh ; but our charitable assistance 
was to be this day most abundantly rewarded. We 



170 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

overtook a poor fellow, more wretched than most 
we had seen, toiling away with his bivouacking 
cloak tied round him. He, too, solicited, and mis- 
understanding my answer, said in the most pitiable 
but submissive tone, " Alors, Monsieur ne per- 
mettra pas que je monte?" "Tout au contraire," 
said I. " Montez tout de suite." A^fter proceeding 
a little way I thought I might as well see who we 
had got behind us, and guess my astonishment 
when I received the answer. Who do you imagine, 
of all the people in the world, Buonaparte had raked 
forth to secure the Imperial Diadem upon his brow, 
to fight his battles, and deal in blood, but — A monk 
of La Trappe. For three years had he resided in 
Silence and solitude in this most severe society 
when Buonaparte suppressed it, and insisted that all 
the Noviciate Monks in No. 36 should sally forth 
and henceforth wield both their swords and their 
tongues ; with lingering steps and slow our poor 
companion went. hi the battle of Lutzen ^ he 
fought and conquered. In Leipsic - he fought and 
fell — the wind of a shot tore his eye out and struck 
him down, and the shot killed his next neiofhbour 
upon the spot ; he was taken prisoner by the 
Swedes, and was now returnino; from Stockholm 
to his brethren near Fribourg. The simplicity with 
which he told his tale bore ample testimony to the 
Truth, but in addition he shewed me his Rosary 
and credentials. After having talked over the 
battle I changed the subject, and determined to see 
^ May, 1813. 2 October, 1813. 



1814] A MONK OF LA TRAPPE 171 

if he could wield the sword of controversy as well 
as of war ; and accordingly telling him who I was, 
asked his opinion of the Protestant Faith and the 
chief points of difference between us. He hesitated 
a little at first : '' Attendez, Monsieur, il faut que je 
pense un peu." In about a minute he tapped at 
the carriage. " Eh bien, Monsieur, j'ai pense," and 
then entered upon the subject, which he discussed 
with much good sense and ability, sometimes in 
Latin, sometimes in French ; and though he sup- 
ported his argument well and manfully, he displayed 
a liberality of sentiment and a spirit of true Chris- 
tianity which quite attached me to him. I asked 
him his opinion of the salvability of protestants 
and infallibility of Catholics. " Ecoutez moi," was 
his reply. " Je pense que ceux qui savent que la 
Religion Catholique est la vraie Religion et ne la 
pratiquent pas, seront damnes, mais pour ceux qui 
ne pensent pas comme nous. Oh non, Sefior, ne le 
croyez pas. Oh mon Dieu ! non, non ! jamais, 
jamais ! " " Are you quite sure a minister ought 
not to marry ? You will recollect St. Peter was 
a married man." " Oh que, oui, c'est vrai, mais le 
moment qu'il suivit notre Seigneur on n'entend plus 
de sa femme." From this we proceeded to various 
other topics, amongst others to the propriety of 
renouncing a religion in which we conceived there 
were erroneous opinions. " Sefior, ecoutez," said 
he, ** can that religion be good which springs from 
a bad principle .'* Les Anglois etaient une fois 
des bons Catholiques ; le Divorce d'un Roi capri- 



172 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

cieux fut la cause de leur changement. Ah, cela 
netait pas bon." ... 

When we were on the point of parting he turned 
to me : " Senor, j'espere que je ne vous ai pas 
fache, si je me suis exprime trop fortement devant 
vous qui m'avez tant rendu service, il faut me par- 
donner, je suis pauvre et malheureux, mais je 
pensois que cetait mon devoir." 

It was as lucky a meeting for him as for me. 
I assisted him with money to expedite him home- 
wards, and he entertained and interested me all the 
way to Metz, when, much against my will, we 
parted, for had he been going to Pekin I should 
have accommodated him with a seat. . . . 

Letter IX. 

Cologne, July 25//^. 

If you could see what I now see, or form any 
ideas adequate to the scenery around me, you 
would indeed prize a letter which, though com- 
menced at 4 in the morning, cannot be valued at 
a less price than 2 or 3 old Castles ; but it is not 
yet the moment to sing the praises of the Rhine. 
I shall only say that we slept at Bacharach, and 
that I am now looking at 4 old Castles whenever 
I raise my eyes from the paper, and that a fine old 
Abbey is only eclipsed by the gable end of a 
Church, equally curious, which is almost thrusting 
itself into the window as if to look at the strangers. 

Little enlivened our day after parting with our 
Monk, unless I should except a good scene from 



1814] JACK BOOTS 173 

a picture which happened at one of the Post 
houses. No Postillions were at home, so the 
Landlord himself was to drive — an enormous man, 
rather infirm, with a night-cap on his head, from 
whence emerged a long pigtail. It was necessary- 
he should be put into his Jack boots. By Jack 
boots you are to understand two large things as 
big as portmanteaus, always reminding me of boots 
fit for the leg which appears in the Castle of 
Otranto. Accordingly no less than 4 or 5 persons 
actually lifted the Landlord into his boots, an 
operation which, from the weight and infirmities 
of the one and the extreme clumsiness of the 
others, took up nearly a quarter of an hour ; and, 
of course, when fairly deposited in them he was 
unable to move, and further help was necessary to 
place him on the saddle. . . . The first view of 
Metz, after traversing an uninteresting country, is 
remarkably fine. It stands in a fine rich plain, near 
though beyond the reach of an eminence — for it 
does not deserve the name of a mountain — the 
sides of which are covered with woods, villages, 
and vineyards. There is something very grand in 
entering a fortified Town — the clattering of draw- 
bridges, appearance of moats, guns, sentinels, and 
all the other etceteras of war. Our passports were 
demanded for the first time. At length we were 
allowed to pass, and found ourselves in a large, 
clean town, chiefly remarkable for its Cathedral, the 
painted window of which was equal to any I ever 
saw. The first thing we invariably do in these 



174 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

towns is to ascend the highest spire, from whence 
the general plan and position are at once explained. 
Yon need not be alarmed. There is no fever at 
present at Metz, or on the Rhine ; but there has 
been. From the close of 1813 and until the last 
two months not less than 69,000 sick or wounded 
have been in the hospitals at Metz — a large Church 
contained about 3,000 at a time, the remainder 
were scattered about wherever they could find 
room, and many breathed their last in the streets. 
Of course, such a concourse of dead and dying 
infested the air to a certain degree, and a fever 
was the result. However, not above 2 or 300 
inhabitants suffered. Of the sick troops from 12 
to 1,500 per day were buried without the town, and 
quicklime thrown in. We supped with three or 
four Frenchmen and a Genoese officer, one of 
Buonaparte's Imperial Elites of the Guard. His 
form and countenance were quite Vandyck — 
I never looked upon a face so well calculated for 
a picture ; his dark whiskers and black curling hair 
composed an admirable frame for a couple of the 
most expressive eyes ; his manners were extremely 
gentlemanlike, and you may conceive I did not talk 
and look at him with any diminution of interest 
when I found he was on his way home from 
Moscow. He had o-one throuQ;h the whole of the 
retreat, had almost reached the boundaries of 
Poland, when at Calick he was wounded, taken 
prisoner, and marched back to Moscow. His 
description of the miseries of that horrible retreat 



1814] THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW 175 

was petrifying — when a horse fell it was instantly- 
surrounded by famished Frenchmen, who devoured 
the carcase ; not merely those who slept were 
frozen, but even sentries upon their posts. Yet 
with all this he imputed no blame to Buonaparte. 
The Russians, he said, had reason to thank the 
severity of their climate, without which they must 
have been completely conquered. I will say this, 
indeed, that the Russians themselves seem to con- 
sider their own efforts as rather secondary to the 
weather. Besides this officer we had a Citizen of 
Metz, a young officer of the Polytechnique School 
who had fought at Montmartre, and a youth who 
was silent ; the other 3, however, made ample 
amends, talking incessantly, and all equally vehe- 
ment in praise of Buonaparte. The officer blessed 
his stars that he had enough to live upon, and that 
he was now quitting a service which, having lost 
its brightest ornament, was no longer interesting or 
supportabfle. The young Polytechnique was equally 
violent, with less of the gentleman to soften it 
down. He, too, was disgusted, and had retired 
for the same reason (these Frenchmen are sad liars 
after all). Of course, as he had been engaged with 
his school companions I thought I could not have 
a better opportunity of ascertaining the number 
killed at Montmartre, as it was invariably circulated 
and believed at Paris that this defence was noble to 
a degree and that the greater part perished by their 
guns. You will recollect that the Polytechnique 
cadets I met on the heights of Montmartre said the 



176 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

same, and yet the youth asserted that they had not 
lost a single individual, that only 30 were wounded, 
whereas they knocked over the Russians in count- 
less multitudes. I The Citizen took the best ground 
for his Panegyric. He referred us to the roads, the 
public buildings, the national improvements which 
France had gained under the dynasty of Napoleon ; 
and when I hinted the intolerable weight of the 
taxes (being 1/5 on all rents and property) he made 
light of them, assuring me that Frenchmen had 
quite enough left for the comforts of life. When 
they all filled their glasses to drink to the health of 
their hero I turned to the Genoese officer and 
beofSfed first to drink to the restoration of Genoa to 
that independence of which Napoleon had in great 
measure deprived her, adding that her present 
degradation was a cruel contrast to the dignified 
station she once held in Europe. His national 
superseded his Imperial feelings, and he drank 
my toast with great good humour and satisfaction ; 
nor did he think it necessary in return to press me 
to drink success to the Emperor, though the Citizen 
on my refusal, half in joke, half in earnest, said he 
wished I might be ill off for the rest of my 
journey. 

My good fortune has not quitted me, however. 
The next morning on getting into the Diligence 
we found only one passenger — Major Kleist, 
nephew to the celebrated Prussian General and to 

^ Subsequent accounts which I heard proved that this second 
account was nearer the truth than the first (E. Stanley). 



1814] MAJOR KLEIST 177 

General Tousein — a Russian equally famous here 
though not so well known in England. His 
appearance was much in his favor ; he talked 
a great deal : had commanded a regiment of the 
Russian Imperial Elites of the Guard (in which 
he still was) at the battle of Leipsic and throughout 
the campaign ; been engaged in every action from 
the Borodino to the capture of Paris ; wounded 
two or three times ; fought a French Officer in 
the Bois de Boulogne, and got his finger cut 
abominably ; visited London and Portsmouth with 
his Emperor, dined with the Regent, &c. He 
told me many interesting anecdotes and particulars, 
although, from a certain random way of speaking 
and the loose, unconnected manner in which his 
words dropped from him, I could not place implicit 
confidence in what he said, nor vouch for the 
accuracy of his accounts. He said decidedly that 
Alexander had visited the Princess of Wales in 
London incog. ; he mentioned an anecdote which 
I cannot quite believe, because had it occurred in 
Paris we must have heard of it. One day when 
Eugene Beauharnais was with Louis XVI H. Mar- 
mont came in. Eugene, on seeing him, turned to the 
King, said, "Sire, here is a Traitor; do not trust 
in him ; he has betrayed one master, he may betray 
you." 

Marmont, of course, challenged him ; they fought 
the next day and Marmont was wounded in the 
arm. He spoke highly of the King of Prussia as a 
military, unassuming, amiable, sensible man, and that 

12 



178 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

he does visit the tomb of his wife. ^ Alexander, he 
said, was fond of diplomacy, an amiable man, very 
brave, but not much of a general. I asked him 
what he thought of the Duchess of Oldenburg. 
When I said she had excellent sense and great 
information, he simply replied, " Oui, et peut-etre 
un peu trop." Of Constantine ^ he spoke with 
indignation, and his whiskers vibrated as he 
described his detestable character — debauched, 
depraved, cruel, dishonest, and a coward. Con- 
stantine was abusing a Colonel in very gross tones, 
a short time ago, for misconduct and incompetency 
in battle. " Indeed ! " said the officer ; " you must 
have been misinformed ; this cannot arise from 
your own observation, as I do not recollect having 
ever seen you near me upon these occasions." 

No wonder the Russians were moderate towards 
the inhabitants during the campaign — their dis- 
cipline was severe enough. Our friend the Major 
caught 7 Cossacks plundering ^ cottage ; he had 
them all tied up and knouted them to death by 
the moderate infliction of i,ooo blows each. In 
truth he seemed to hold the lives of these gentle- 
men, including the Calmucs, rather cheap. " Pour 
moi," said he, " Je considere un Cossac, un Calmuc 
et un Moineau a peu pres comme la meme chose." 

At St. Avoid we again fell in with a regiment 
of Russians, or rather detachments from many 

^ Queen Louise, nee Princess of Mecklenburg Strelitz. 
^ Grand Duke Constantine, brother of Czar Alexander, 1779- 
1831. 



1814] TYPES OF RUSSIAN SOLDIERS 179 

regiments. Whoever they were they did not 
appear to be in high favour with the Major. '* Our 
army," said he, " is divided into three classes — the 
first we can trust for discipline and ability ; the 
second consists of Cossacks and other irregulars, 
whose business is reconnoitring, plundering, and 
running away when they see the Enemy ; the 
men before you compose the third — fellows who 
know nothing and do nothing, but can stand quietly 
in the place assigned them and get killed one after 
another without ever thinking of turning their 
backs " ; and their appearance was very like their 
character — patient, heavy, slumbering, hard-featured 
countenance ; sitting or standing without any 
appearance of animation. 

At St. Avoid we began to lose the French 
language, and from this my fluency was reduced 
to signs, or at most to a very laconic speech — " Ich 
Englander, Ich woll haben Brod mitt Cafe," &c. 
At Dendrich, a little village near Forbach, we 
crossed the new line of demarcation between 
France and Austria, and found the towns chiefly 
occupied by Bavarians. Unless I am much mis- 
taken, this country will soon be a bone of conten- 
tion ; the people (as far as I can judge in three 
days) are dissatisfied, and the leaders of France 
look with a jealous eye on the encroachment, and 
an imaginary line of separation will not easily be 
respected. Here I saw what is meant by a German 
forest — as far as the eye could reach all was wood. 
Austria may, if she pleases, by her new accession 



180 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

of territory become charcoal vendor to the whole 
world. The road is excellent, carried on in a fine, 
broad, straight line. Till Buonaparte spoke the 
word, there was no regular communication between 
Metz and Mayence, now there is not a more noble 
road for travelling. We were now in the Hock 
country ; in the Villages we bought what I should 
have called wine of the same sort for 6d. a 
bottle. . . . 

On Thursday, the 21st, we entered Mayence, 
over and through similar drawbridges, bastions, 
horn works, counterscarps as at Metz ; here we 
met a curious assemblage. By the first Gate 
were stationed a guard of Prussians with the 
British Lions on their caps, John Bull having 
supplied some Prussian Regiments with Uniforms. 
At the next gate a band of white Austrians, with 
their caps shaded with boughs of Acacia (you will 
remember that their custom of wearing green 
boughs in their Hats was interpreted by the French 
into a premeditated insult). These, with Saxons 
in red, Bavarians in light blue, and Russians in 
green, made out the remainder of the motley crew. 
We found an excellent Inn, and dined at a Table 
d'Hote with about 30 people. The striking contrast 
we already perceived between the French and 
Austrians was very amusing, the former all bustle 
and loquacity with dark hair, the latter grave and 
sedate with light hair; the Inns, accommodation, 
eating, &c., much cleaner; a band played to us 
during dinner, and I was pleased to see the 



1814] ANGLOPHOBIA 181 

Austrian moustachios recede with a smile of satis- 
faction as they listened to the " Chasse de Henri 
Quatre." 

There is little to be seen in the town. I found 
a most intelligent bookseller, and was tantalised 
with the number of fine Engravings, &c., I might 
have purchased for a trifle. . . . 

I have heard a curious political report repeated 
here, which is current all over the Continent — that 
Austria has sold the Netherlands and Brabant to 
England ; the report gains credit probably because 
the towns in that part of the country are still 
garrisoned with British troops. Poor England is 
certainly not much beloved ; we are admired, 
feared, respected, and courted ; but these people 
will have, and perhaps with some reason, that upon 
all occasions our own Interest is the sole object 
of consideration ; that our Treaties have the good 
of ourselves and not the peace of Europe at heart ; 
and so far they carry this opinion, that I was 
very near getting into a quarrel with a fat man in 
the Diligence who spoke it as a common idea that 
we fought with our money and not with our blood, 
for that we were too rich to risk our lives, and had 
there been a bridge that Napoleon would have 
been in London long ago. I told him he knew 
nothing at all about the matter (to which, by the 
bye, he afterwards virtually assented), and as a 
Frenchman's choler does not last long, we were 
good friends the rest of the journey, and he 
apologised for his behaviour, saying, it was a failing 



182 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

of his — "de s'echauffer bientot ' Upon one point 
we agreed, too, in politics, viz., being Anti- 
Napoleonites. 

Now for the Rhine. At lo o'clock on Friday, 
July 22nd, in a little rotten, picturesque-looking 
boat and two men (preferring a private conveyance 
to the public passage boats for the convenience 
of stopping at pleasure) we left Mayence ; the river 
here is about half a mile across, traversable by a 
bridge of boats. The Maine falls into it just above 
the town, and there appears nothing on the Frank- 
fort or Strasburgh side to interest a traveller's eye, 
the country being flat vine or corn land. The 
Stream runs with a steady rapidity of about three 
and a half or 4 miles an hour, so that in a boat, 
with the addition of oars, you may proceed at the 
rate of about 6 miles an hour. The distance 
to ColoQ^ne is about 120 miles. On the bank 
of the River we saw some of those immense 
floats preparing which are composed of timbers 
for the Holland markets. We o-flded with an im- 
perceptible motion down the stream, expecting as 
we proceeded to behold the magnificent ruins of 
which we had heard so much. But, alas ! village 
succeeded village, town followed town, and yet 
not a single turret made its appearance. We sat 
with our sketch books in battle array, but our 
pencils were asleep ; we began to regret the un- 
interesting, even country we had passed from Metz 
to Mayence, and the time which might be called 
lost in coming so far for so useless a purpose, and 



1814] THE BEAUTIES OF THE RHINE 183 

to make vow after vow that we would never in 
future believe the account given by others re- 
specting people and places. By this time our 
appetites began to grow keen, luckily, just at the 
time when our spirits began to flag, and, accord- 
ingly, we went on shore at Rudesheim, famous for 
its excellent hock, and having dispatched a dinner 
and bottle of hock we ventured forth to explore, 
and, luckily, fell in with a little Gothic round tower, 
which, with the dinner, rather raised our spirits 
and enabled us to proceed 4 or 5 miles further 
to Bingen when we turned a Corner. . . . 

I verily believe such another corner does not 
exist in the world. From the corner of Bingen 
must be dated the beauties of the Rhine, and from 
the corner of Bingen I commence my next letter ; 
suffice it now to say that the moment we turned 
the Corner we both, with one impulse, called out, 
" Oh ! " and sat in the boat with our hands uplifted 
in speechless astonishment. ... 

Letter X. 

AlX LA ChAPELLE, /i!//;)' 27, 1814. 

I left you turning the corner of Bingen, now let 
me describe what there presented itself. On the left 
a beautiful picturesque town, with tower and pic- 
turesque-looking steeples placed each exactly on 
the spot an artist would have selected, with hills 
and woods on each side and a bridge running 
over a small river which emptied itself in the 



184 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

Rhine. Immediately before us, on a small islet, 
stood the Tower of Mausthurm, or the Mouse 
turret, so called from a tradition that a Baron 
once locked up a number of his Vassals in a 
tower and then set fire to it and consumed it and 
its inhabitants, in consequence of which certain 
mice haunted him by day and by night to such 
a degree that he fled his Country and built this 
solitary Tower on its island. But all this would 
not do. The Mice pursued him to his Island, 
and the tale ends in his being devoured by them 
there. 

On both sides the river hills covered with vines 
and woods rose abruptly, and on the right, tottering 
on a pinnacle that frowns over the flood, stood the 
Castle of Ehrenfels. . . . 

It would be quite impossible, and indeed unneces- 
sary (as my sketch-book can best unfold the tale), 
to describe all we saw. For above loo miles, 
with little interruption, the same scenery pre- 
sented itself, attaining its superlative point of 
grandeur in the neighbourhood of Lorich and 
Bacharach. It might be called a perfect Louvre 
of old Castles, each being a chef d'ceuvre of its 
species. I could almost doubt the interference of 
a human hand in their creation. Placed upon 
elevated and apparently impossible crags, they 
look more like the fortresses of the Giants when 
they warred against the Gods than any thing else. 
But the Castles were not the only points of attrac- 
tion. Every mile presented a village as interesting 



1814] A CURIOUS PHENOMENON 185 

as the battlements which threatened to crush them 
to death from above. Each vied with its neigh- 
bour in picturesque beauty, and the people as well 
as the buildings in these remote nooks and corners 
partook of the wild character of the scenery. A 
shower of rain and close of the day induced us to 
make Bacharach our sleeping-place. The Land- 
lord, with his nightcap on his head and pipe in 
his mouth, expressed no surprise at our appear- 
ance. The coffee and the milk and the hock 
came in due season when he had nodded 
acquiescence to my demand, and he puffed away 
with as much indifference as if two strange 
Englishmen had not been in his house. We 
found good clean beds, and should have slept 
very well but for the deep-toned Bell of the 
Church within a few yards of us, which tolled the 
time of night every half-hour, and for a watchman 
who, by way of murdering the little sleep which had 
survived the sound of the Bell, sounded with all his 
might a cow-horn, and then, as if perfectly satis- 
fied that he had awaked every soul in the village, 
bawled out the hour and retired, leaving them just 
time to fall asleep again before the half-hour called 
for a repetition of his exertions. 

Every evening about dusk, in our course down 
the river, a curious Phenomenon presented itself 
which to me, as an Entomologist, had peculiar 
charms. We were surrounded as far as the eye 
could reach with what appeared to be a fall of 
snow, but which, in fact, was a cloud of beautiful 



186 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

white Ephemera just emerged from their ChrysaHs 
state to flutter away in their perfection for one or 
two hours before their death. I mention this cir- 
cumstance now, whilst it is fresh in my memory, 
for I really should hesitate in relating it before 
company for fear of being accused of traveller's 
stories. I had heard of them before, and was 
therefore not so much surprised, though the 
infinite number was truly astonishing. 

On Saturday, 23rd, we dined and spent an hour 
or two in Coblentz, which, situated at the junction 
of the Moselle with the Rhine, is strongly fortified 
towards the land. There is little worth notice in 
the town except a Stone fountain erected by 
Napoleon, from the pipes of which run the united 
streams of the two rivers. Upon these are carved 
in large letters the two following inscriptions, the 
one immediately below the other in characters 
precisely similar : — 

A.N. MDCCCXII. 

Memorable par la Campagne 

Contre les Russes 

Sous la Prefecture de Jules Dragon. 

Vu et approuve par nous 
Commandant Russe de la ville de Coblentz 
Le ler. Janvier 18 14. 

At Coblentz as well as at Cologne the Rhine is 
passed by a flying bridge — i.e., a large boat moored 
to several other smaller ones, whose only use is to 
keep the large one steady. It swings from bank 



1814] THE ROD OF NAPOLEON 187 

to bank, according as the mooring line is placed on 
one side or the other, merely by the action of the 
current producing a sort of compound motion. 
Coblentz is completely commanded by the heights 
of Ehrenbreitstein, a rock as high as Dover, the 
summit and side covered with the ruins of the 
fortress which the French blew up. The people 
in this country are pretty well satisfied with the 
change of affairs. They led a life of unsupport- 
able tyranny under the rod of Napoleon. The 
river was crowded with custom house officers. 
Not a man could pass without being personally 
searched for Coffee and sugar in every part of 
his dress. All they lament now is the uncertainty 
of their fate. Many expressed a hope that the 
report of their being sold to England might be 
true. All they want is certainty, and then their 
commerce will revive. As it is, nothing can be 
more uninteresting in a commercial point of view 
than this noble river. We did not see above a 
dozen Merchants' barks in the course of 120 miles, 
and yet they say trade is tenfold greater than when 
Napoleon governed. Below Coblentz we passed 
some of the Chateaux of the German Princes, 
which are generally large, uncomfortable-looking 
houses, fitted up, as far as external examination 
allowed us to judge, without taste. The river 
becam.e rather dull, but at Andernach, where we 
slept, it began to improve and to promise better 
for the next morning, and for some miles we were 
not disappointed. 



188 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

We were under the necessity of travelling on the 
Sunday, which in our situation I certainly held to 
be no crime. What I could do I did in inducing 
our Boatmen to attend their Mass. Religion, 
which appears to be nearly extinct in France, is 
by no means so in Germany. We find the churches 
all well attended and plentifully scattered over the 
whole country. In the course of the morning we 
passed a large Chapel dedicated to St. Apollonius, 
and noted for its Miracles, all of which were 
recorded by our Boatmen with the air of implicit 
reverence and belief. It happened to be the fes- 
tival of the Saint, and from a distance of lo or 
20 miles even the road was crowded with persons 
going or coming to their favourite shrine. You 
will recollect what Mme. de Stael says of the 
Germans' taste for religious music. Of this we 
had a specimen to-day. As we passed the height 
upon which the Chapel stood a boat containing 
40 or 50 people put off from the shore and pre- 
ceded us for several miles chaunting almost the 
whole way hymns and psalms. In the Evening, 
soon after leaving Bonn, we came up with another 
containing about 120, who every quarter of an hour 
delighted us with the same strains. They glided 
with the stream, and gave us time to row alongside, 
and we continued in their company the remainder 
of the day. 

Could I have heard and not have seen all would 
have been perfect, but the charm was almost broken 
by the heterogeneous mixture of piety and indif- 



1814] VOICES ON THE RHINE 189 

ference, outward practice and inward negligence. 
Some were telling their beads and chattering 
Pater Nosters, some were at one moment on 
their knees, in the next quarrelling with their 
neighbour ; but, after all, the general effect was 
so solemn and imposing that I was willing to 
spare my criticisms, and give them credit for 
perhaps more than they deserved. Conceive such 
a concourse of persons, on one of the finest Even- 
ings imaginable, floating silently with the stream, 
and then at a signal given bursting forth into songs 
of praise to God — all perfect in their respective 
parts, now loud, now low, the softer tones of the 
women at one time singing alone. If the value 
of a Sabbath depends on the religious feelings 
excited, I may safely say I have passed few so 
valuable. They had no Priest amongst them, the 
hymns were the spontaneous flow of the moment. 
Whenever one began the rest were sure to 
follow. 

When upon the subject of music I must be the 
advocate of Mme. de Stael. She has been accused 
of falsehood in stating that in the Cottages in 
Germany a Piano Forte was a necessary piece of 
furniture. I cannot from my own knowledge go 
quite so far, but from my short experience of 
German manners I may safely say there is no 
nation in which Music is so popular. We have 
heard the notes of pianos and harpsichords issuing 
from holes and corners where they might least be 
expected, and as for flutes and other instruments, 



190 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

there is scarcely a village in which, in the course of 
an hour, you will not hear a dozen. 

At Cologne we were lodged at a French Inn 
kept by the landlord and his wife alone — no 
waiters, no other attendance — and yet the house 
was spacious, clean, and excellent. I never met 
with more attention and wish to accommodate, 
and not only in the house ; the exertions of our 
host were exerted still further in our behalf- He 
introduced us to a Club chiefly composed of 
French Germans, who were as hospitably inclined 
as himself. One gentleman invited us to his 
house, would give us some excellent hock, intro- 
duced us to his family, amongst the rest a 
little fellow with a sabre by his side, with curling 
locks and countenance and manner interesting as 
Owen's. Hearing I was fond of pictures and 
painted glass, he carried me to a fine old 
Connoisseur, his father-in-law, whose fears and 
temper were a good deal roused by the "peste," 
as he termed it, of still having half a dozen 
Cossacks in his house. However, they were 
officers, and by his own account did him no 
harm whatever ; but for fear of accidents he had 
unpanelled his great dining-room. Our friend had 
a large and excellent house, in a style very unlike 
and far more magnificent than is usually met with 
in England. In return for his civility I was 
delighted to have it in my power to give him a few 
ounces of our Pecco Tea which remained of our 
original stock. Travelling in Germany is certainly 



1814] THE GLENBERVIES AND ME. NORTH 191 

neither luxurious nor rapid ; the custom of hiring a 
carriage for a certain distance and taking post 
horses does not extend here, and you are therefore 
reduced to the following dilemma, either taking 
a Carriage and the same horses for your journey or 
the '* Post Waggon," or Diligence, which is of the 
two rather more rapid. Of two evils we preferred 
the last, and at half-past 8 this morning were 
landed at Aix la Chapelle, having performed the 
journey of 45 miles in 12 and a half hours, 
shaken to death, choked with dust, and poisoned 
with tobacco, for here a great hooked pipe 
is as necessary an appendage to the mouth as the 
tongue itself. Under the circumstances above 
mentioned, with the Thermometer at about 98 
into the bargain, you may conceive we were 
heartily glad to run from the coach office to the 
Baths as instinctively as young ducks. On looking 
over the list of persons visiting the place, we were 
delighted to find the names of Lord and Lady 
Glenbervie ^ and Mr. North.^ Accordingly, having 
first ascended the highest steeple in the town, and 
been more disgusted than in any place I have seen 
since Spain, with virgins and dolls in beads and 
muslins, and pomatum and relics of saints' beards, 
and napkins from our Saviour's tomb, and mum- 
meries quite disgraceful, we went to call upon 
them. . . . 

' Lady Catherine North, sister of Lady Sheffield, married 
1786, Sylvester Douglas, Lord Glenbervie. 
^ Hon. F. North, fifth Earl of Guilford. 



192 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

We find this, like every other town and village, 
swarming with Prussian troops. General Kleist 
commands, and has no less an army than 170,000. 
This seems very like a determination of the King 
of Prussia not to give up the slice he has gained in 
the grand continental scramble. Every uniform 
we saw was of British manufacture. An officer 
told me we had furnished sufficient for 70,000 
Infantry and 20,000 Cavalry. 

There is little to be seen in this place. The 
country about reminded me most of England ; for 
the first time on the continent we saw hedges and 
trees of tolerable size growing amongst them. We 
were directed above all other things to pay our 
respects to the great gambling table. It is, indeed, 
one of the Lions of the Town ; the room is 
splendid in size, and everybody goes to see it. It 
is open 3 times a day for about 2 or 3 hours 
each time. About 50 or 60 people were win- 
ning or losing round a large table at a game 
apparently something like vingt un ; not a word 
was said, but money was shovelled to the right and 
left very plentifully. ... I forgot to mention that 
near Linz on the Rhine we passed a headland 
fronted and inlaid with as fine a range of Basaltic 
columns as the Giant's Causeway, some bent, some 
leaning, some upright. They are plentiful through- 
out that part of the country, and are remarkably 
regular ; all the stone posts are formed of them, 
and even here I still see them. . . 



1814] A FEENCH DILIGENCE 193 

Letter XL 

Bruxelles, 29//^. 

After a night and greater part of two days passed 
in a species of oven called a French Diligence, 
with Reaumur Thermometer at 23 — hotter, you 
will observe, than is necessary to hatch silkworms, 
and very nearly sufficient to annihilate your 
unfortunate brother and husband — did we arrive 
at Bruxelles. ... I must give you a few details 
that you may fully understand the extent of our 
misery. We arrived at Liege all well, with only 
two other passengers ; conceive our sorrow when on 
re-entering the Diligence after dinner we found 
besides ourselves and a lady the places occupied by 
a Dutch officer, who sat gasping without his coat, 
and so far exhausted by the heat, though he had 
been ten years in Batavia, that his pipe hung 
dangling as if he had not breath sufficient to keep 
its vestal fire alive, and a lady with two children 
besides living intruders. A net from the top was 
filled with bags, baskets, and band-boxes. Our 
night was sad indeed, and the groans of our fellow- 
travellers and the ineffectual fluttering of a fan 
which the Officer used proved how little they were 
satisfied with the order of things. The children 
were crammed with a succession of French Plums, 
almonds, garlicked mutton, liqueurs, and hock, all of 
which ingredients the kind mother endeavoured to 
cement on their Stomachs by Basons of milk at 
sunrise, but no sooner had a few additional jolts 

13 



194 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

brought these bons-bons into close contact than the 
windows were occupied the rest of the journey by 
the stretched-out heads of the poor children. 

The heat has been more excessive for the last 
4 or 5 days than has been experienced for many 
years in this country ; and, in short, when / think it 
worth while to mention heat as the cause of real 
inconvenience, you may consider it such as would 
have thrown you into a fever. Enough of our 
personal sufferings, which you may easily conceive 
have been few indeed if the above is worth 
recording. . . . 

I left Aix la Chapelle with no great regret. The 
Country round it is pretty, much resembling Kent, 
but as a town or watering-place it has nothing to 
recommend but its gambling-table. I expected 
to have found a museum of human nature and 
national character. — Tables d'hotes crowded with 
the best bred of all countries, but just the reverse. 
There were Tables d'hote's at the minor Inns 
tolerably frequented, but none at the most fashion- 
able ; there the guests lived by themselves. There 
is no point of rendezvous, no promenade, no 
Assembly room, where the concentrated world may 
be seen. Like Swedenborgh's theory of living in 
the midst of invisible spirits, so at Aix la Chapelle 
(unless time and opportunity may have thrown him 
into private circles) a traveller may be surrounded 
by Princes and Potentates without knowing or 
benefiting by their illustrious presence ; the Glen- 
bervies made the same complaint. From Aix to 



1814] THE BRITISH CHARACTER 195 

Liege we had the company of a very pleasant, well- 
informed citizen of Liege (indeed, all the military 
classes in Germany seem well informed), who in 
pathetic terms lamented his lot. In the cutting up 
of this grand continental dish Prussia has had 
Benjamin's mess in this part of the country. We 
have his troops, with few exceptions, forming a 
cordon within the Rhine from Saarbruck to Liege, 
and they are by no means popular. We have 
clothed them, and all the people feed them, besides 
having been called upon for contributions. It is 
flattering to see the high respect shown to the 
British character, which increases as opportunities 
occur of observing its effects. If we were like the 
people of Bruxelles (said our Liegeois) all would be 
well ; we should rejoice in having a garrison. 
British troops, so far from exacting contributions or 
demanding free quarters, pay for everything, are 
beloved by the people, and money circulates, 
whereas under the Prussian government we pay 
all, are put to all manner of inconvenience, and 
receive neither thanks nor satisfaction. They 
appear to have been peculiarly unfortunate in all 
wars. Poor Liege has received a thump from one, 
a kick from another, and been robbed by a third. 
The Austrians have burnt their Suburbs, the 
Republicans sold their national and ecclesiastical 
Estates, and lately they have had the pleasure of 
being pillaged by French Marshals and satisfying 
the voracious appetite of the Crown Prince, who 
put them to an expense of 150,000 frs. in providing 



196 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

his table for 7 weeks, and when they hinted that 
they thought it but fair their Royal visitor should 
pay for his own dinners, he departed, leaving his 
bills unpaid. He seems to have been secreting 
himself here like a Cat in a barn watching the 
motions of the mice, acting solely from interested 
motives, and ready to pounce upon whatever might 
be safely turned to his own advantage. When the 
French retreated out of Holland the Duke of 
Tarentum ^ did the poor people at Liege the 
honour of making their town a point in the line of 
his march. He stopped one night, and because the 
inhabitants did not illuminate and express great 
joy at his illustrious presence he demanded an 
immediate contribution of 300,000 frs., 150,000 of 
which were paid the next morning. Luckily the 
Allies appeared towards Noon, and I hope his Grace 
will not get the remainder. 

In the character of almost all these French 
military leaders there are such blots and stains that 
one sickens at the thought of being of the same 
species. It would be endless to recount the acts of 
rapacity committed by all these engines of Imperial 
France ; conscious that their throne might one day 
fall, they lost no time in amassing wealth, and 
pillage was the watchword from the Cathedral to 
the Cottage. Lisle is in the hands of the French, 
and by their own account the people have suffered 
every species of misery, yet they are strong for 
Napoleon, Garrison and Citizen, and I cannot find 
' Marshal Macdonald, 1 765-1840. 



1814] SOLDIERS IN PETTICOATS 197 

that they ever vented their feehngs in any other 
way than in nicknaming their General Maison ^ 
(a cruel Tyrant who destroyed all their suburbs 
under pretence they might be in the way in case 
of a siege, which might have been done in a day 
had the Allies ever thought of such a thing) ; he is 
in consequence called General Brise Maison, and 
then the foolish people laugh and cry, " Que c'est 
bon cela," think they have done a great feat and 
submit like lambs. The country from Liege to 
Brussels wears the same Anglicised face — hedge- 
rows and trees without any leading features. 
Bruxelles is a nice town — and really it was a grati- 
fication in passing the gate to see a fat John Bull 
keeping guard with his red coat. The Garrison 
consists of about 3,000, amongst the rest a regiment 
of Highlanders whose dress is the marvel of the 
people. A French Lady who came with us from 
Liege had seen some and expressed her utter 
surprise, and as if she was speaking to one who 
doubted the fact, she repeated, "C'est vrai! actuelle- 
ment rien qu'un petit J upon — mais comment ! " and 
then she lifted her eyes and hands and reiterated, 
" petit jupon — et comment," concluding, as if she 
almost doubted the evidence of her own senses, 
" Je les ai vus moi-meme." 

At Bruxelles at least we expected to see a 
numerous and genteel Table d'hote, and in this 
hope took up our quarters at a magnificent Hotel 

' General Maison, 1771-1840, one of the most faithful of 
Napoleon's generals. 



198 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

in the Place Royale — very fine indeed, and very full 
of English, much too full, for though we saw a few 
in the passages, or eyed them as they peeped out 
of their doors, and sat down with about 1 5 or 20 at 
table, "They spoke not, they moved not, they 
looked not around." By dint of asking- for salt and 
mustard, and giving my next neighbour as much 
trouble as I could to show I had a tonoue which 
I should be happy to use, we towards the 3rd Act 
of the Entertainment began to talk, and ascended 
gradually from the meats to the wines (here, it is 
true, there was some prolixity), and then to other 
subjects pretty well, though the burthen of my 
companion's song was that " the French were all 

d d rascals and ought to be well licked." We 

tried the Play ; there we found a few English 
officers and one English lady, few of any other 
nation, not 50 altogether, in a house dismal and 
dirty. There is a delightful sort of wood and 
promenade called the Park. » . . 



i4:i::: 



,1 1 



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CHAPTER V 

THE LOW COUNTRIES 

Dutch arks — Walcheren memories — Earth - covered ships — 
Cossacks and keys — Brother alleys — Bergen op Zoom — 
Cossack shopping — Goat curricles — Treckschuit travelling — 
Booksellers' shops 

AFTER Brussels the travellers proceeded to 
Holland, and saw Antwerp on their way. 
They had now gone beyond the country which 
Napoleon's victories had made famous, and the 
chief military interest of the country through which 
they passed, just eleven months before Waterloo, 
was derived from two very melancholy events for 
an Englishman to record — the Walcheren Expedi- 
tion and the storming of Bergen op Zoom. 

Letter XII 

Bergen op Zoom, July i\st. 
... On leaving Bruxelles the country immedi- 
ately loses its character, and becomes entirely 
Dutch, by which we exchange for the better, 
leaving dirty floors, houses, and coaches for as 



199 



200 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

much cleanliness as soap and water can produce ; 
I only regret from my experience of last night that 
they should be so much occupied in washing as to 
forget that drying is also a luxury, but there is 
no such novelty in this country, and so much 
to be seen that I have no time to catch cold. Our 
Diligence from Bruxelles held lo people inside and 
3 in front, and we had all ample elbow room ; it 
was large, as you may suppose, as everything else 
in Holland is from top to bottom. Hats, Coats, 
breeches, pipes, horns, cows — are all gigantic, and 
so are the dogs, and because the poor things happen 
to be so, they harness a parcel of them together 
and breed them up to draw fish-carts, I yesterday 
met a man driving four-in-hand ; in turning a 
corner and meeting three of these open-mouthed 
Mastiffs panting and pulling, you might almost 
fancy it was Cerberus drawing the Chariot of Pro- 
serpine — but I am wandering from the Diligence, 
which deserves some description. It resembled a 
little Theatre more than a coach, with front boxes, 
pit, &c., lined with common velvet. We had a 
curious collection of passengers. Opposite to me 
sat a prize thoroughbred Dutch woman as clean 
and tidy as she was ugly and phlegmatic, with a 
close-plaited cap, unruffled white shawl, and golden 
cross suspended from her neck. I took a sketch 
while she stared me in the face unconscious of the 
honor conferred. By her side sat a French woman 
crowned with the lofty towers of an Oldenburg- 
Bonnet. By my side a spruce, pretty, English- 



1814] GALLERY OF THE FLEMISH SCHOOL 201 

woman, whom I somehow or other suspected had 
been serving with his Britannic Majesty's troops 
now occupying Belgium. She had on her right 
hand a huge Brabanter who spoke EngHsh, and 
had acquired, I have no doubt, a few additional 
pounds of fat by living in London. Edward sat 
behind me in a line with the Brabanter's wife and 
a Dutch peasant. These, with two or three minor 
characters, completed our cargo, and away we went 
on the finest road in the world towards Antwerp 
between a triple row of Abeles and poplars, and 
skirting the bank of a fine canal upon which floated 
a fleet of Kuyp's barks, and by which grazed 
Paul Potter's oxen — the whole road was, in truth, a 
gallery of the Flemish school. By the door ^f 
every ale-house a living group from Teniers and 
Ostade, with here and there bits from Berghem 
and Hobbema, &c. Halfway between Bruxelles 
and Antwerp is Malines. I had began to fear that 
I had lost my powers of observation, and was, 
therefore, no longer struck with the external appear- 
ance of the towns — in fact, that the novelty was 
gone, and that my eyes were too much familiarised 
with such objects to notice them. Happily Malines 
undeceived me, and convinced me I was still fully 
alive to whatever had any real peculiarity of 
character to entitle it to notice. With the excep- 
tion of the villages on the Rhine, all the towns and 
houses I had seen lately had little to recommend 
them, and were like half the people in the world, 
possessed of no character of their own, their doors 



202 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

and windows like all other doors and windows, but 
Malines had doors and windows of its own, and 
seemed to take a pride in exhibiting- its own little 
queer originalities ; in every house was a different 
idea. The people were of a piece with their dwell- 
ings ; I could almost fancy I was permitted to 
inspect the toys of some Brobdignag baby who 
washed, cleaned, and combed the beings before me 
every morning and locked them up in their separate 
boxes every evening. When the nice green doors 
of the nice painted houses opened, I bethought me 
of the Dutch ark you bought for Owen, and was 
prepared to make my best bow to Noah and his 
wife, who I expected to step forth with Ham and 
Japhet, and all the birds and beasts behind them. 

We approached Antwerp as the sun was setting 
behind its beautiful Cathedral and shining upon the 
pennants of the fleet which Bonaparte has kindly 
built for the accommodation of the allied powers. 
The Antwerpers had a well- arranged promenade 
and tea garden, &c., about a mile from the house, 
well wooded. These, with all the houses in the 
suburbs, the French entirely destroyed, leaving not 
a wreck behind. I must acquit them of wanton 
cruelty here, however, as in sieges these devasta- 
tions are necessary. We passed thro' a complete 
course of fortifications, and then entered what, from 
all I can perceive, is the best town I have seen on 
the continent. 

It is a mass of fine streets, fine houses, and fine 
churches ; the Tower of the Cathedral is quite a 



1814] WALCHEREN MEMORIES 203 

Bijou 620 steps in height ! but the ascent was well 
rewarded ; from thence a very respectable tour of 
about 30 miles in every direction may be accom- 
plished. Walcheren and Lillo (the celebrated fort 
which prevented our ascending the Scheld) were 
visible without any difficulty, with Cadsand and all 
the v/ell-known names of that silly expedition,' 
rendered apparently more silly by seeing how 
impossible it would have been to have taken 
Antwerp unless by a regular siege, which might 
have been of endless duration ; we might have 
bombarded the basons in which the men-of-war 
were deposited, and with about as much success as 
Sir Thos. Graham, ^ who, after expending a mint 
of money in bombs and powders, in the course of 
two days contrived to send about half a dozen 
shells on board the line of battleships. I was on 
board the Albania, which had suffered the most. 
The extent of her damage was two shells which 
passed thro' the decks, exploding without much 
mischief, and a round-shot which shivered a quarter 
gallery and then fell on the ice — indeed, bombard- 
ing vessels, which are objects so comparatively 
small, is something like attempting to shoot wild 
ducks on Radnor Mere by firing over their heads 
with ball in hopes that in its descent it may come 
in contact with the bird's head. 

' This disastrous expedition to attack Antwerp sailed under 
the Earl of Chatham, July 20, 1809, and ended in total failure 
The troops were withdrawn in December, i8og. 

•^ Sir Thomas Graham, 1 748-1 843, afterwards Lord Lynedoch. 



204 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

About a dozen Gun Brigs were sunk, all of which 
we saw with their masts above the water ; a few 
houses near the Bason were shattered, and about 
20 Townsmen killed. The country round Antwerp 
is quite flat, and appears, with the exception of 2 
or 3 miles round the town, a perfect wood ; fancy- 
such a wood with the Scheldt winding through it, 
several roads radiating in lines straight as arrows, 
with here and there a steeple breaking the hori- 
zontal line, and you may suppose yourself at the 
top of the Cathedral. The Town is large, with 
the river washing the whole of one side ; on the 
south are the dockyards, with rope walks and 
everything in fine style ; the destruction of these 
might have been practicable, as they are rather 
beyond the line of immediate fortifications, but 
probably they have works for their express pro- 
tection, and the advantage gained must have been 
in proportion to the stores and vessels building. I 
counted 16 or 17 ships of the line on the Stocks 
2 or 3 of 120 Guns. In the Scheldt floated 13 
in a state of apparent equipment ; in the basons 
9 — all of the line — thus completing a fleet of 
39 fine Ships, besides a few frigates and Gun 
Brigs innumerable — of these only two were 
Dutch. 

It was curious to see such a fleet, and some of 
them were actually worn out, the utmost extent 
of whose naval career had been an expedition to 
Flushing. On descending the Spire, we examined 
the Carillons, which are a Gamut of chiming bells 



1814] ALKMAAR CHURCH BELLS 205 

of all sizes — the total number for them and the 
Church is 82 ; by a clock work they play every 
7 minutes, so that the neighbourhood of the 
Cathedral is a scene of perpetual harmony ; they 
can also be played by hand. Most of the churches 
in this country have them. Our Guards in march- 
ing into Alkmaar were surprised and gratified in 
hearing the church bells strike up "God Save the 
King." There are several good churches in the 
town, and once all were decorated with the works 
of Rubens, which Napoleon carried off. I should, 
however, be perfectly satisfied with a selection from 
the remainder. I saw a Vandyck on the subject of 
our Saviour recommending the Virgin Mary to St. 
John, which was incomparable ; it quite haunts me 
at this moment, and, however horrible the effect of 
the bleeding figure on the Cross, I do not wish to 
lose the impression. The Dutch have carried the 
art of carving in wood to a most extraordinary 
pitch of perfection. I am surprised it has not been 
more spoken of ; some of their pulpits are really 
quite marvellous. Religion increases and, I think, 
improves. There is less mummery here than at 
Aix and some other places I have lately seen, with 
the exception of a few little Saviours in powdered 
wigs and gilt satin and muslin frocks, and a very 
singular figure as large as life, supposed to repre- 
sent the deposition in the holy sepulchre, which 
was covered by a shroud of worsted gauze, studded 
over with enormous artificial flowers and tinsel like 
a Lady's court dress. 



206 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

Wherever we went, at whatever hour, Mass was 
performing- to good congregations. The women 
here all dress in long black shawls, or, rather, 
hooded wrappers, which, as they knelt before their 
confessional boxes, were extremely appropriate and 
solemn. The Eno^lish have a church here for the 
garrison ; it Is simplicity itself. They have even 
removed several fine pictures, the rooms having 
been a sort of museum— the Vandyck I alluded to 
among the rest. ... 

In our morning's tour we, of course, visited the 
celebrated basons for the men-of-war. " Still harp- 
ing upon these ships," I can fancy you exclaiming ; 
*' when will he have done with them ? " You must 
bear it patiently. It was on account of these said 
basons, in a great measure, that I came to Antwerp, 
so you must endure their birth, parentage, and 
education. 

There are two Basons, one calculated for i6, the 
other for 30 sail of the line ; they are simple excava- 
tions. Nature never thought of such a thing, and 
gave no helping hand. It was Napoleon's work 
from first to last ; the labour and expense must 
have been enormous. They open by dock gates 
immediately into the Scheldt, from whence each 
ship can proceed armed and fitted cap a pie (if 
she dares) to fight the English. They were begun 
and finished in two years, but improvements were 
suggested, and there is no knowing what more the 
Emperor intended to do. Precautions had been 
taken during the bombardment to preserve the 



1814] EARTH-COVERED SHIPS 207 

Ships. For instance, all the decks were propped 
up by a number of spars, by which means if a 
bomb fell it did no other mischief than forcing its 
way through and carrying all before its immediate 
course, whereas without the props it might have 
shaken the timbers and weakened the access con- 
siderably. In every ship also were 2 cartloads of 
earth, to throw over any inflammable substance 
which might have fallen on board. From this 
mole hill of a truth was engendered a mountainous 
falsehood for home consumption. I read in the 
English Papers of the time that the French had 
scuttled their ships to the level of the water, and 
then covered them over with earth, which was 
carefully sodded ! ! Sir Thos. Graham's batteries 
were very near the basons, half-way between the 
village of Muxham, about 2 miles from the town 
and the nearest French battery. From one of the 
latter we had a perfect conception of the whole 
business. Without saying a word about my ex- 
treme partiality and fears for the safety of No. i, 
and probable inconvenience which might ensue 
from loss of said No. i to Nos. 2, 3 and 4, I 
wonder much whether my curiosity would have 
allowed me to sleep quite in the back ground. 
The sight must from this point have been superb, 
as it was the intention to throw the bombs over 
this battery so as to make them fall in the bason 
amongst the ducks. The top of the Cathedral 
would have been perfection, but the Governor 
most vexatiously kept the keys. . . , 



208 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

We found abundance of British troops here, 
remnants of all the regiments who had survived 
the storming of Bergen op Zoom, about 3 or 
4,000. . . . They have no reason to complain of 
their quarters, though it is possible many of them 
may be of the same opinion with a soldier of the 
Guards, who, in reply to my question of " How do 
you like Antwerp ? " said with great earnestness, 
" I like St. James's Park a great deal better." I 
observed several ladies with their "petits chapeaux," 
and I must do them the justice to say they are much 
handsomer than the French, German, or Dutch. 
. . . English Curricles, coaches, and Chariots are 
to be seen, and some few English horses, which 
are certainly better calculated for speed and 
pleasant driving than the heavy breed of this 
country. Flanders Mares — as Henry VHI. tells 
us by comparing his queen to one — have never 
been remarkable for elegance and activity, and I was 
much entertained in seeing an Englishman break 
in a couple of these for a Tandem. 

... At our Table d'hote, where we met nothing 
but English merchants, I heard the report of the 
day that Belgium was to be a sort of independent 
state, under the Prince of Orange's government, 
according to its old laws and customs, and that he 
was to hold a court at Bruxelles. . . . The Prince 
of Orange is now in fact gone to make his public 
entrance into Bruxelles. . . . 

There is a custom that the key of the town 
should be presented to the possessor or Governor 



1814] RICHES OF THE COSSACKS 209 

of the Town on a magnificent silver-gilt plate. 
When the Cossack chief came, as usual, the key 
was offered, which he good, simple man quietly 
took, put into his pocket, and forgot to return. 
When I saw the dish, the man told me this 
anecdote, and lamented wofully the loss of his 
key, which may possibly in future turn the lock 
of some dirty cupboard or other on the banks of 
the Don. It seems these Cossacks were immensely 
rich. Latterly I have been assured they could not 
fight had they been inclined, from the excessive 
height of their saddles and weight of their clothes ; 
on the one they could scarcely sit, and with the 
others they could scarcely walk. They had 
always 3 or 4 Coats or coverings, and in the 
folds of these were unkennelled 1,330 Napoleons 
on one of them who happened to die at 
Bruxelles. 

We quitted Antwerp after dinner yesterday for 
Bergen op Zoom by a new sort of conveyance ; by 
way of variety we " voitured " it, viz., hired a 
carriage, driver, and horses for Breda on our way 
to Amsterdam. It was a nice sort of Gig Phaeton, 
with comfortable seats for 4, the Driver on the 
front bench. I fear I must retract what I said 
in the beginning of this letter, as to the decided 
change in houses and people here. It was most 
conspicuous about Malines, but on this road 
there was nothing remarkable one way or the 
other. 

Our road was, however, Dutch throughout. Upon 

14 



210 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

a sort of raised dyke, between a monotonous avenue 
of stunted willows, did we jog gently on, with 
nothing to relieve the eye but here and there a 
windmill or a farm. On our left we saw, as far as 
eye could reach, the Swamp (or I scarcely know 
what to call it), which fills up the spaces between 
the Main and South Beveland, and it almost gave 
me the Walcheren fever to look at it. The Even- 
ing Gun of Flushing saluted the Sun as he sank to 
rest behind these muddy isles, and we begun to 
fear, as night drew on, that we should have to take 
up our night's lodging in the Gig, for though he 
knew that the gates of the Fortress were closed at 
9, our sturdy Dutchman moved not a peg the faster. 
However, we escaped the evil, and lo minutes before 
9 we passed the drawbridge of the ditch leading to 
the Antwerp gate, which had been the grave of the 
I St Column of Guards, led by General Cooke, on 
the 8th March. . . . 

Note. 

Storming of Bergen op Zoom, March 8, 1814. — Sir Thomas 
Graham had landed 6,000 men on October 7, 181 3, in S. Beve- 
land, in order to combine with the Prussians to drive the French 
from Holland. 

On March 8, 18 14, he led 4,000 British troops against Bergen 
op Zoom. They were formed into four columns, of which two 
were to attack the fortifications at different points ; the third to 
make a false attack ; the fourth to attack the entrance of the 
harbour, which is fordable at low water. 

The first, led by Major- General Cooke, incurred some delay in 
passing the ditch on the ice. but at length established itself on the 
rampart. 



1814] BROTHER ALLEYS 211 

The right column, under Major-General Skerret and Brigadier- 
General Gore, had forced their way into the body of the place, but 
the fall of General Gore and the dangerous wounds of Skerret 
caused the column to fall into disorder and suffer great loss in 
killed, wounded, and prisoners. The centre column was driven 
back by the heavy fire of the place, but re-formed and marched 
round to join General Cooke. At daybreak the enemy turned the 
guns of the place on the unprotected rampart and much loss and 
confusion ensued. General Cooke, despairing of success, directed 
the retreat of the Guards, and, finding it impossible to withdraw 
his weak battalions, he saved the lives of his remaining men by 
surrender. 

The Governor of Bergen op Zoom agreed to a suspension oi 
hostilities for an exchange of prisoners. The killed were com- 
puted at 300, prisoners, 1,800. — Ed. 



Letter XIII. 

Hague, August j^, 1814. 
Sterne pities the man who could go from Dan to 
Beersheba and say that all was barren, and I must 
pity the man who travels from Bergen op Zoom to 
Amsterdam and says that Holland, with all its flat- 
ness, is not worth visiting. 

" Oh Willow, Willow, Willow, here 
Each stands bowing to another. 
And every Alley finds its brother." 

Nature never abhorred a vacuum more than she 
herself is abhorred by these Dutchmen ; here rivers 
run above their levels and cattle feed where fishes 
were by nature intended to swim. Hogarth's line 
of beauty is unknown in Holland. No line can 
be either beautiful or palatable except that which 



212 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

(defined mathematically) is the shortest that can be 
drawn between two given points. But I have yet a 
great deal to say before I come to these roads. I 
left you at Bergen op Zoom, just arrived. On Sun- 
day morning, after a little enquiry, we were glad to 
find there was a Protestant French Church in the 
town, and thither we went. I cannot say much for 
the sermon ; it was on i Cor. vii. 20, in which a 
great deal of French display of vehemence and action 
made up in some degree for a feeble prolixity of 
words ; in one part, however, he made an appeal, 
which has at least had the effect of eloquence and 
certainly came home to the heart. He described 
the miseries the country had so long endured and 
the happy change which had now taken place. But 
while he blest the change he lamented the tears 
which must be shed from the fatal effects of the war 
which produced it ; and then turning to us, whom he 
perceived to be Englishmen, he proceeded : " It is 
for us to lament the sad disaster which this town 
was doomed to witness in the loss of our friends 
(our Compatriots, I may say), who shed their blood 
for the restoration of our liberties." After church I 
went into the vestry to tell him who and what I was. 
As an Englishman he shook me by the hand, and 
when he understood I was a Protestant minister he 
shook it again. Had he asked me to dine I should 
have accepted his invitation, but unluckily he lost 
my company by paying what he conceived to be a 
greater compliment. Like an Indian warrior, he 
offered the calumet of peace and begged I would go 



1814] AN EYEWITNESS' ACCOUNT 213 

home and smoke with him. Now, I would have gone 
through a good deal to have had some conversation 
with him, but really on one of the hottest days of 
July, when I was anxious, moreover, to inspect the 
fortification, smoking would not do, and taking our 
leave he sent his schoolmaster, an intelligent man 
who had a brother a Captain in one of our assaulting 
regiments, to be our guide and tell the melancholy 
tale. . . . And now let me see if I can make that 
clear to you which has never been made clear to any- 
body yet. "At lo o'clock," said our guide, "I was 
at supper with a little party, some French officers 
being present ; about half after lo some musket 
shots were heard ; this was no uncommon sound 
and we took no notice ; however, it rather increased, 
and the French sent a sergeant to know the cause, 
and remained chatting quietly. In about ten minutes 
in burst the sergeant, ' Vite, vite, a vos portes ! Les 
Anglais sont dans la ville.'" I need not add the party 
broke up in a hurry ; our Guide sallied forth with the 
rest, and went on the Ramparts for curiosity, but 
whilst he was gratifying this passion, on a pitch 
dark night, down drops a man who stood near him, 
and whiz flew some bullets, upon which he took to 
his heels, got home, and saw no more ; indeed, had 
he been inclined it would have been impossible, for 
Patrols paraded the streets and shot every one 
who was not a French soldier. Thus far our school- 
master was an eye-witness ; for the remainder you 
must trust to my account from as minute an enquiry 
as I could make upon the spot with Sir T. Graham's 



214 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 



dispatches in my hand, which threw very little light 
upon the subject. 

BERGEN OP ZOOM . 
E 



.*! 




A. The Steenbergen Gate. 

B. Breda Gate. 

C. Antwerp Gate. 

D. Water Gate. 

E. Picket of veteran French 

Soldiers. 



F. River or creek running into 

the town. 

G. Side from whence the Eng- 

lish approach. 
H. Bastion near Breda Gate. 



Under the guidance of some inhabitants who had 
fled to the English, soon after lo o'clock, March 8th, 
the ground covered with snow and ice, our troops 
marched in silence to their respective posts. The 
Guards, led by General Cooke, were to go round 
towards B and C, at A a false attack was to be 
made ; another column was to force open the gates 



1814] STORMING OF BERGEN OP ZOOM 215 

at B, and the 4th column, led by Generals Skerret 
and Gore, proceeded by the dotted line, crossed 
the river up to their middle, and skirting round 
between the works were the first to enter the 
town behind some houses which fronted the 
Quay. Hitherto all went on well, and the object 
of all the Columns was to concentrate at G, but no 
sooner had the 4th Column gained its point (from 
what cause nobody knows, for I cannot conceive 
that the immediate loss of its two Generals was the 
sole cause) than all subordination seems to have 
been at an end, and the men, instead of going on, 
occupied themselves with revelling and drinking 
and getting warm in the houses by the Quay, and 
though many prisoners were taken, they were im- 
prudently left unguarded with arms in their hands, 
which they very soon turned against their captors 
with fatal success. The doors and windows in this 
part of the town bore evidence of the business 
which for a short time was carried on. The 
Guards gained their point, and so did the Column 
at B in part, for the French were killed in great 
numbers on Bastion H, in fact, eleven Bastions 
were taken, and all before midnight ; but from 
this period till 7 in the morning, when the affair 
closed, I can give you no clear account. Nobody 
seemed to know what was doing, all appears to 
have been confusion — not a gun was spiked, none 
were turned towards the Town. In the meantime 
the French were no inactive observers of what was 
passing ; they came forward most manfully, fighting 



216 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

hand to hand, and though I could not find out that 
there was the slightest reason for suspecting they 
were at all prepared beyond what was usual, or 
aware of the attack, they contrived to be instantly 
at the right point, and though with barely 3,000 
men to defend works, the inner circle of which is at 
least 2 miles in circumference, and with 3,900 men 
attacking, they remained master of the field, killing 
near 400 and taking 1,500 prisoners. The French 
General was an elderly man who left all to his Aide 
de Camp. He was, in fact, the head, and has been 
rewarded most deservedly in the ribbon of the 
Legion of Honor. The French, it is supposed, 
lost 5 or 600 men. The number was certainly 
great, and they were aware of it, for they buried 
their dead directly, to prevent the possibility of 
counting. The Bergen op Zoom people say it is 
utterly impossible to account for the failure of the 
assault but on the supposition that the English 
were led to conclude that the French would make 
no resistance or that they were badly officered. I 
should be sorry to believe the latter, and yet I heard 
from good authority that many of these, instead of 
encouraging their men at the Water post gate, were 
actually busied in collecting braziers and fires to 
warm themselves and rest upon their arms. 

It may be supposed that wading on such a night 
upwards of 50 yards in mud and water must have 
been dreadfully cold, but I can scarcely conceive that 
upon a service so important cold could have any 
influence ; however, never having led an assault 



1814] DRIVE TO BREDA 217 

under such circumstances I can be no judge. 
Were I to give my own opinion, it would be this : 
That the affair was entrusted to certain General 
officers who were unfortunately killed in the begin- 
ning of the action ; that no precautions appear to 
have been provided against such accidents, and no 
remedy applied to the confusion thereby created — 
the Columns knew not what to do, each on gaining 
its point possibly waiting for orders to proceed ; 
that the darkness increased the confusion — in short, 
that "the right hand knew not what the left hand 
did," and that the French acted with incomparable 
bravery and skill. It should be added that most of 
their troops were conscripts. It is an ugly story 
altogether, and I shall say no more. A sketch of 
the works in and near the Antwerp gate will give 
you some idea of the spot which has proved the 
grave of so many fine officers and men. At 
4 o'clock we quitted the town for Breda — the 
greatest part of the road inexorably flat and un- 
interesting ; but what is lost in the country is 
gained in the Towns, villages, and people — they 
are sui generis. For 3 hours did we toil through 
a deep sand between parallel lines of willows of the 
same size, shape, and dimensions ; then for 3 hours 
more did we proceed at a foot pace over a common ; 
this brought us to Breda just in time for the gates, 
throucrh which we trotted to the usual rattle of 
drawbridges, chains, &c. By the bright light 
of the moon at night and earliest dawn of the 
following morning we rambled through the streets. 



218 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

Breda was one of the last towns which aot rid of 
its French garrison without a siege ; it departed 
one night without beat of drum, and the Cossacks 
came in to breakfast, leaving the trembling inhabi- 
tants to doubt whether in escaping Scylla they 
were not approaching Charybdis. However, they 
behaved tolerably well. " Did they pillage? " said 
I to a Breda lady who travelled with us in the 
Diligence. "Oh non," she replied; " seulement 
quelque fois ils prenaient des choses sans payer." 
Thus a Cossack comes into a Shop, makes signs he 
wants some Cloth. The Dutchman, delighted with 
the idea of accommodating a new purchaser, takes 
down his best pieces. The Cossack looks them over, 
fixes on one, takes it up, pops it under his arm, 
and walks off, leaving the astonished vendor 
gaping behind his counter to meditate on the 
Profits of this new verbal ceremony. 

After the Cossacks came the Prussians, who re- 
mained a longf time and were little better than the 
French — they lodged in free quarters, domineered 
without mercy, and paid for nothing. All the 
Prussian officers 1 have seen appeared gentleman- 
like men, but they are nowhere popular. The 
English succeeded the Prussians, they were all 
" charmants " ; then came the Dutch who were 
"comme 9a," but then " n'importe " they were 
their own countrymen. I rather begin to like 
the Dutch women. The next day in the Dili- 
gence we had my present informant, a lively, 
talkative damsel of Breda, a very pretty girl of 



1814] A MEETING WITH ARTILLERY 219 

the same town who talked nothing but Dutch 
and an old Lady who would have been perfect 
if everything had been as charming as her Dress. 
The Ladies are elegant and apparently well- 
behaved, with all the liveliness of the French. 
We met with no adventures till we came to a 
river ; here a regiment of Dutch cavalry impeded 
our progress and luckily gave us time to get our 
breakfast ; the next river brought us in contact 
with a detachment of Artillery waggons. Our 
Diligence consisted of a Machine with 6 seats 
inside, a cabriolet in which sat Edward and myself, 
on a little seat before us the driver with his legs 
dangling for want of a footboard. His patience 
had been rather put to the test by the cavalry, 
but the Artillery quite upset him, and on getting 
entangled amongst their train, uttering two of the 
French words he had learnt from his servitude 
under the Emperor, viz., "sacr^ bleu," he popped 
his pipe into his pocket, threw the reins into my 
hands, and jumped down to request the Officer's 
permission to pass. Under existing circumstances 
I confess I did not much like the responsibility of 
the charge committed to me, but fortunately our 
conductor soon returned with permission to pass. 
We got out while he drove his 4 in hand quietly 
into the boat, every cranny of which was filled up 
by soldiers and artillery horses, which, as if to shew 
off the pomp of war, capered and reared before 
our sedate steeds, who only wanted pipes in their 
mouths to rival the impenetrable gravity of their 



220 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

driver. It is necessary to cross the Waal before 
you get to Gorum. When we got to the bank not 
a boat was to be had. With some difficuky at last 
our Coachman procured a miserable punt with a 
boy. What with our Trunks and passengers we 
were quite enough for it ; indeed, the female part 
of our crew hesitated for some time ; and well they 
might, for no sooner had we shoved from the 
shore than a leak was discovered which threatened 
serious consequences. It gained rapidly ; the old 
Lady above mentioned was in despair, and sat with 
her thumb crammed over the spouting orifice the 
whole time, while a young man baled with his 
shoes as fast as possible. This was not all. The 
Stream carried us down, and our driver — no great 
sailor — caught crabs at every other pull ; then we 
got upon a bank. Really I begun to think it would 
be quite as well to be safe now, but as for fear, 
it was out of the question, the lamentations of the 
women, and terrors of the old lady in particular, 
kept us quite in Spirits. The last event was the 
total overthrow of the driver by a sudden bump 
against the bank. Poor fellow ! he was not only 
well drenched, but his head cut by falling against 
the seat of the boat in his overturn. Though 
every nerve vibrated with compassion, it was 
quite impossible to avoid laughing. Luckily a 
glass of vinegar well rubbed upon the wound 
soon set him to rigfhts and g-ood humor. Gorum 
and Naard were the last two towns which the 
French retained, and poor Gorum suffered sadly. 



1814] A DUTCH CLERIC 221 

The Suburbs, Tea gardens, avenues, walks, &c., 
were all destroyed by the French to prevent the 
Prussians coming in, and their houses and heads 
knocked about with shot and shells to drive the 
French out. Luckily the French listened to the 
entreaties of the people and capitulated. 

I wish they would bombard Knutsford or Maccles- 
field or some of our Towns for an hour or two, just 
to shew them what war is. Bang, whiz, down 
comes a shell and away goes a house. War and 
slavery have quite reconciled the Dutch to the 
abdication of Napoleon. In answer to the question, 
" Etes vous content de ces changements .'* " you meet 
with no doubtful shrug of the shoulders, no am- 
biguous " mais que, oui " ; an instantaneous extra 
whiff of satisfaction is puffed forth, accompanied 
with the synonimous terms, " Napoleon et Diable." 
On leaving Gorum we acquired an accession of 
passengers — a protestant clergyman and a fat man, 
who looked much like a conjurer or alchymist. A 
protestant clergyman in Holland may be known by 
his dress — a cocked hat of a peculiar model covers 
a lank head of unpowdered hair. Nothing white 
appears throughout but the pipe in his mouth and 
cravat round his neck, a long black coat down to 
his ancles, with black worsted stockings and gold- 
headed cane. I must say they do not look over 
and above agreeable, and as they hate all innova- 
tions few have learnt French, so that I have been 
foiled in most of my attempts at conversation. 

From Gorum to Utrecht the country improves ; 



222 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

we had hitherto travelled sometimes on Dyke tops, 
sometimes in Dyke bottoms which only required 
the efforts of a few able-bodied rats to let the water 
in upon us. It is quite surprising to see on what 
a precarious tenure Holland is held. Take but a 
Dyke away, overturn one dam, and see what discord 
follows — and this does sometimes happen. In 
1809 the Ice broke through near Gorum and 
carried away countless houses, men, cattle, &c. I 
have said the country improved, i.e., we got into 
a land of villas and Trees, some of them beautifully 
laid out, and all, stable included, bright and 
clean as possible. Each, too, has its Summer 
house perched by the Canal side and (the Evening 
being fine) well filled with parties of ladies and 
gentlemen. The road for many miles was orna- 
mented with wooden triumphal arches and hung 
with festoons of flowers, &c., as a compliment to 
the Emperor Alexander, who passed about a 
month ago. . . . 

. . . We arrived at Amsterdam on Monday night ; 
here, again, all was new. Hitherto we had rode in 
Carriages of various descriptions with wheels, but 
in Amsterdam you have them without wheels, drawn 
by a fine horse and driven by a man who walks by 
the side with his long reins. . . . 

But what delighted me more than anything 
else was the prospect of suiting Owen and Mary 
exactly. What think you of a Goat Curricle.'* 
Goats are regularly trained for draught, and are 
the prettiest things in the world, trotting in neat 



1814] AN ENGLISH DUTCHMAN 223 

harness with two or three children. I shall, if I 
have time at Rotterdam, see if I can get a pair. 
Buonaparte was so delighted with them that he 
ordered 4 for the King of Rome. Amsterdam is 
a very large, gloomy town, intersected in all direc- 
tions by water, monotonous in the extreme. Had I 
not been convinced by the evidence of my senses in 
looking down from a house top on several objects 
I had visited in different parts of the town, I should 
have suspected that our Laquais de place had 
amused himself by walking up and down the same 
street where Canals with trees on each side do not 
keep the houses asunder ; high buildings and narrow 
streets of dark, small brown brick constitute the 
character of the town, and, having seen one, you 
have seen the whole. In the course of my walk I 
heard that two or three Englishmen were settled in 
the town. I called on one, the Revd. Mr. Lowe, 
with little of the Englishman left but the language. 
He had been there 30 years and held a Presby- 
terian Church. I asked him if Napoleon troubled 
the English settlers during the war. He said that, 
provided they conformed quickly to the laws and 
regulations, they experienced no persecution. Upon 
my asking if it was at all necessary to conceal 
his extraction, he exclaimed, "What, conceal my 
extraction, deny my country ? Not for all the 
Emperors in the world. No, I have too much 
conscience and independence. To be sure, I was 
obliged by law to pray for the health and prosperity 
of Buonaparte every Sunday. But what signified 



224 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

that ? God Almighty understood very well what 
I meant, and that I heartily wished his death all 
the time." By long residence in Holland, he had 
adopted a good portion of Dutch impenetrability 
and slowness. He assured us nothing short of a 

o 

week could give us the least chance of seeing the 
curiosities of Amsterdam, and when I told him 
that we were (according to our common custom of 
early rising) to be in North Holland by 6 o'clock 
in the morning, and had seen all by 1 1 o'clock 
which occupies a Dutchman's whole day, and gave 
him a few instances of our mode of operation, he 
threw himself back, raised his cocked hat to 
examine us more thoroughly, put his arms akimbo 
and exclaimed, " How do you support human 
nature. It must expire under such fatigue," and I 
found it quite impossible to convince him that my 
health for the last month had been infinitely better 
than usual. But, after all, I fear you will find me 
growing old. I had a compliment paid to my grey 
hairs, in coming from Utretcht, which must be 
mentioned. The fat Alchymist, above mentioned, 
squeezed himself into Edward's place in the Dili- 
gence ; on remonstrating to a young Dutch gentleman 
who spoke French, he replied, " Que c'etait vraiment 
impoli mais que c'etait un viellard a qui on devait 
ceder quelque chose, et je vous assure, Monsieur, 
comme vous etes aussi un peu age si vous aviez 
pris ma place je vous I'aurais cede." In Amster- 
dam there is little to be seen but the Palais, in 
which there is a splendid collection of Flemish 



1814] IN A TRECHSCHUYT 225 

pictures — two or three of the finest of Rembrandt — 
and without exception the most splendid room I 
have seen in Europe. It is the great Hall of 
audience ; King Louis ^ has fitted up everything in 
grand style. We went over what the Dutchmen 
cry up as an object which it would be unpardonable 
not to see — the Felix meritus, a sort of Lecture 
room with some wretched museums attached. I 
found nothing to interest me but a capital figure 
of a Dutchman, who came also to see the wonders. 
Nothing could exceed his attitudes as he looked 
with an eye of incredulity whilst they explained a 
planetarium, examined with an air of conscious 
safety a snake corked up in a bottle, and ogled 
with terror a skeleton which grinned at him out 
of his case. I walked round and tried his per- 
spective in all directions, and rather blushed when, 
with treacherous condescension, I requested him 
to use my Glass that I might see how he looked 
peeping thro' a Telescope. This is such a Museum 
as will furnish me with samples of oddities for the 
rest of my life. 

Letter XIV. 

August 6, 1 8 14. 

Luckily we have a commodious cabin in the 
Trecksckuyt, and no smoke or other intruders, so 
where I finished my last I will begin another. 

As to the country, a peep once an hour will be 
sufficient ; I will look out of the window and give 

' Louis Buonaparte, third brother of Napoleon, 1778-1846; 
King of Holland, 1806-1813. 

15 



226 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

you the result — five plover, a few fat cows, a good 
many rushes, and a canal bridge. At Amsterdam 
we dined at a regular Dutch table d'hote ; about 
20 people, all of them eaters, few talkers ; the 
quantity of vegetables consumed was quite sur- 
prising. With the last dish a boy came round with 
pipes and hot coals, which were soon followed by 
a tremendous explosion of Tobacco from a double 
line of smokers, and as if the simple operation of 
puffing in and puffing out was too much for these 
drowsy operators, many of them leaned back in 
their chairs, put their hands in their breeches 
pockets, shut their eyes, and carried on the war 
with one end of the pipe in their mouths and the 
other leaning on their plates. On Wednesday, 
Aug. 3rd, we crossed the Gulf by sun rise on a little 
tour into North Holland, to see the Village of 
Brock and Saardam, where the house in which the 
Czar Peter worked still exists. We landed at 
Buiksloot, from whence carriages are hired to 
different parts of the country. From Breda to 
Amsterdam they varied the Diligences according 
to the number of travellers ; sometimes we had a 
coach and four, and then a machine and three, and 
as our number diminished we were forwarded the 
last stage or two in a vehicle perfectly nondescript 
with two horses ; it was a sort of cart painted white, 
hung upon springs, with an awning, but it was 
reserved for this morningr to see us in a carriage 
far beyond anything before seen or heard of. I 
am inclined to think it must have been the identical 



1814] A SPOTLESS VILLAGE 227 

equipage (for it was a little the worse for wear) 
which the fairy produced from the gourd for the 
service of Cinderella — a sort of Phaeton lined with 
red flowered velvet, the whole moulding- beauti- 
fully carved and gilt, the panels well painted with 
flowers, birds, urns, &c., the wheels red and gold. 
It contained two seats for four persons, and a coach 
box painted, carved, and gilt like the body of the 
carriage ; the whole was in a Lilliput style drawn 
by two gigantic black horses, whose tails reached 
above the level of our heads. It was exactly suited 
to the place where we were going, the village of 
Brock, which, like our vehicle, was unlike any- 
thing I had seen before. I have, in former letters, 
talked of Dutch cleanliness and neatness, but what 
is all I have said compared with Brock ? Even the 
people have their jokes upon its superiority in this 
particular, and assert that the inhabitants actually 
wash and scrub their wood before they put it on 
the fire. Lady Penrhyn's cottages must yield the 
palm, they are ■ only internally washed and 
painted, but in Brock, Tops and bottoms. Outside 
and in, bricks and all, are constantly under the 
discipline of the paint brush, and as if Nature was 
not sufficiently clean in her operations, the stems 
of several of their trees were white washed too ! In 
fact, nothing seemed to escape — the Milk pails were 
either burnished brass or painted buckets, and the 
little straw baskets the women carried in their 
hands came in for their share of blue, red, or 
green. They have such a dread of dirt, that 



228 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

entrance is limited to the back door only, the 
opening of the front door being reserved for grand 
occasions, such as weddings, funerals, &c. It is 
not accessible by carriages and horses, on account 
of several canals which intersect it ; these some- 
times widen, and in one part the houses stand 
round a pretty little lake. I can give you no better 
idea of the scene than a Chinese paper, whose 
neat summer houses and painted boats are all 
mixed together. Most houses have each a 
separate garden, kept in style equally clean. I 
really believe my own dusty shoes were the most 
impure things in the whole village. 

We returned to Buiksloot and then proceeded to 
Saardam, on the top of a Dyke, which keeps the 
sea from inundating the vast levels of North 
Holland. Saardam might be held up as the pattern 
of neatness had I not visited Brock first ; as it is, 
I can only say that, though four times as large, it 
seems to be its rival in cleanliness and paint. The 
number of windmills is quite astonishing ; it would 
require an army of Don Quixotes. ^ I counted 
myself upwards of 1 30 in and close to the town ; 
they say there are 1,200. Windmills seem great 
favourites with the Dutch. In the Diligence near 
Utrecht my neighbour roused me by a sudden 
exclamation, " Oh la vue superbe ! " I looked, and 
beheld 14 of them in a Dyke! and yesterday, on 
asking the Laquais de place if we should see 
anything curious at Saardam besides the Czar's 
house, he replied, "Oh que, oui — beaucoup de 
Moulins!" Peter the Great's house is a small 




rxnt t U ida3 — :. 






^sa 




1814] A SLEEPY CONGREGATION 229 

wooden cottasfe close to the town, remarkable for 
nothing but having been his. 

Alexander had put up two little marble Tablets 
over the fireplace, commemorating his visit to the 
Imperial residence, on which something .good and 
pointed might have been inscribed ; as they are, it 
is merely stated that Alexander placed them on, 
and that Mrs. Von Tets Von Groudam stood by, 
delighted to see him so employed. We returned 
to Amsterdam by 3 o'clock and left it at 4 for 
Haarlem. In Protestant countries Cathedrals are 
not always open ; we found that at Haarlem open 
and a numerous congregation listening to a very 
respectable, venerable-looking preacher, whose 
voice and manner, style and action approached 
perfection. His eloquence, however, seemed to 
be in vain, for I observed many sleepers ; and what 
had an odd effect, though customary in their 
country, the men with their hats on ; they take 
them off, I believe, during prayers, but put them 
down during the sermon ; we ascended the tower 
and enjoyed as extensive a view as heart could 
wish. The sea of Haarlem is an immense lake 
separated from the Gulf by a flood gate and narrow 
dam. The French had a block house and batteries 
here. In truth, Holland does not require above 
20 guns to keep out all the enemies in the world. 
Different, indeed, are the Dutch from the French 
in the facility and liberality of access to their 
curiosities. It required some eloquence and more 
money to induce the key-keeper to let us go up ; 



230 BE!F0RE and AI'TER WATERLOO 

and on asking whether the Organ was to play, he 
assured us it was not, but that if we wished it, the 
performer would sound the notes for id shillings ; 
this was a gross imposition to which we were little 
inclined to submit ; but luckily, as we were coming 
down, we heard it opening its great bellows and 
re-echoing through the body of the church. We 
almost broke our necks in running downstairs, and 
leaving the Dutch guide to take care of himself, we 
found our way into the Organ loft, to the visible 
annoyance of the performer, who, seeing we were 
strangers, thought himself sure of his eight florins, 
but his duty and the Church service compelled him 
to go on, and he shook his head and growled in 
vain at our guide, who at this time appeared, 
intimating that he should take us away, as having 
no business there, but in vain. I heard the Organ, 
counted the 68 stops, examined at my leisure the 
stupendous instrument, while he was under the 
necessity of continuing his involuntary voluntary, 
till my curiosity was satisfied. We took up our 
residence at an Hotel in the Wood, so-called from 
being the place of promenade and site of the new 
palace, but ci-devant residence of Mrs. Hope, and, 
in fact, from being also a respectable wood of 
tolerably sized trees. 

By the best chance in the world here, too, we 
fell in with a fete on the river. Some great 
Burgomaster had married himself, and all the world 
of Haarlem came forth in boats, decorated with 
colors, and bands of music in procession up the 






m-wxy^ 



iiil 




1814] LEYDBN 231 

river to pass in review before the Princess of 
Orange, an elderly-looking woman. She sat in 
the window of a summer house overlooking the 
river, and the festive procession assembled before 
her. It was a lovely evening, and nothing could 
be more gay and animating than the scene. We 
this morning at 6 quitted Haarlem in the boat in 
which I am now writing as comfortably as in my 
own room, the motion scarcely perceptible, about 
5 miles an hour ; by good luck few passengers, and 
those above looking at a man who is at this 
incessant Dutch employment of painting. The 
boat is as clean as a china dish, but possibly it may 
not have been painted since last week. Edward 
has just daubed his hand by looking out of the 
window. I am rather puzzled in getting on here. 
Very little French is spoken ; among the common 
people none, and we converse by signs, 

. . . Their money, too, is puzzling beyond 
measure. My stock consists of 5 franc pieces 
(French), upon which, exclusive of their not always 
understanding what they are, there is a discount ; 
this, of course, adds to the confusion, and now 
I despair of understanding the infinite variety of 
square, hexagon, round coins of copper and silver 
and base metal which pass through my hands. 

We passed two hours at Leyden as actively 
employed as a Foxhunter. We found a man who 
spoke French, told him our wishes, gave him a list 
of what was to be seen in the town, and then 
desired him to start, following him on the full trot 



232 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

up and down churches, colleges, Townhalls, &c. 
These towns are so much alike, that having seen 
one the interest is considerably lessened. Leyden, 
however, has the honour of possessing one of the 
finest streets in Holland ; though capable of accom- 
modating 65,000 souls, there are not more than 
20,000, which gives it a melancholy appearance. 
In one part there is an area of about 3 or 4 
Cheshire acres planted with trees and divided with 
walls, which in 1807 was covered, like the rest of 
the town, with good houses, but it happened that a 
barge full of gunpowder passing through the canal, 
blew up, killed 200 people, including a very 
clever Professor Lugai, and destroyed all the 
houses. It was a sad catastrophe, to be sure ; but 
now, as it is all over, and all the good people's 
mourning laid aside, I think the Town may be 
congratulated as a gainer. I could fill up my letter 
with the anatomical preparations of the celebrated 
Albinus ; but though I am very partial to these 
sights, I doubt whether you would be amused by a 
description of dried men, with their hearts, lungs, 
and brains suspended in different bottles. The 
town is full of booksellers' shops, in which capital 
Classics might be procured and divers others old 
books. The windows were also well filled with new 
works translated into Dutch ; few, I think, original ; 
imongst others, I saw " Ida of Athens ! " ^ 

It is not easy to trace the sieges of Philip 2nd in 
these towns, as the fortifications are most of them 
^ A novel by Lady Morgan. 




§ \i 



~^ 




1814] GOAT GIGS 233 

extinct, fortresses of more modern construction 
being now the keys of the country. Neat villas 
and gardens by the canal side marked our approach 
to the seat of government — and a very first-rate 
Town the Hague is, though I cannot conceive 
how the people escape agues and colds in Autumn. 
Stagnant canals and pools, with all circulation of air 
checked by rows of trees, cannot be healthy. 
Unfortunately for us. Lord Clancarty is at 
Bruxelles with the Prince of Orange. The Hague 
appears, from what I have seen, to be a better 
town for permanent residence than Bruxelles or 
Antwerp. The houses are all good, which implies 
a superior quality of inhabitants. In the evening 
we took a drive to Scheveningen, a fishing village 
about 2 or 3 miles distant, through a delightful 
avenue. It is one of the fashionable resorts of the 
town, and is absolute perfection on a hot day, 
though pregnant with damp and dew in the evening. 
I told you of dog carts at Bruxelles, but here seems 
to be the region of despotic sway of the poor 
beasts. I believe that I am not wrong in stating 
that nearly all the fish is carried by them from 
Scheveningen to the Hague ; and the weight they 
draw is surprising. We passed many canine 
equipages ; in one sat a fisherman and his wife 
drawn by three dogs not much bigger than 
Pompey — he with his pipe in his mouth, she with 
an enormous Umbrella Hat, as grave as Pluto and 
Proserpine. I saw several nice goat gigs ; more- 
over, I am determined to have one for Owen. . . . 



234 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

. . . It is quite extraordinary with what excessive 
silence and gravity these people carry on their 
affairs. On returning- from Schevenino;en at a 
good round trot, we came in contact with another 
carriage. Luckily no other accident happened than 
breakino- their traces and Q-rindino' their wheels. 
But though disabled by our driver, not a syllable 
of complaint or commiseration was uttered by one 
party or the other. Our driver proceeded, leaving 
them to take care of themselves. I observed, too 
that in manoeuvring the Vessel in passing the Gulf 
yesterday, where some tacks were necessary, all 
was performed in perfect silence ; no halloo-ing — a 
nod or a puff was alone sufficient. . . . 

And so are we comino- to the close of our Tour — 
our next stage will be Rotterdam, from whence I 
shall bear my own dispatches. ... hi the course 
of my life this last month will bear a conspicuous 
place from the interesting and delightful scenes 
it has afforded me. I must confess I left England 
with some waverings and misgivings ; the accounts 
of others led me to expect that disappointments, 
difficulties, and great expense would be the in- 
evitable accompaniments of my course. But in no 
instance have I been disappointed, the difficulties 
too trifling to deserve the name, the expense 
nothing compared with the profits derived, and I 
have seen enough of men and manners, of things 
animate and inanimate, to make me quite at home 
in some of the great scenes which have just been 
performed. . . . 



CHAPTER VI 
THE WATERLOO YEAR 

Lord Sheffield's forebodings — Talleyrand and the Senate — 
Vagabond Royalty — Mr. North and Napoleon — The rout 
of the Bourbon Government. 

1814-1816. 

THE two years which intervened between 
Edward Stanley's second and third visits 
to France saw the Empire regained and lost by 
Napoleon, and the French Crown lost and regained 
by LouisXVni. 

In spite of the rose-coloured description of the 
comforts and pleasures of his journey with which 
the correspondence of 18 14 closes, neither the 
Rector nor his brother found it possible to travel 
on the Continent in 181 5, which Lady Maria 
had foretold would be " a much more favourable 
time. 

Such hopes must soon have been dashed by the 
proceedings of the Congress of Vienna, which, as 
was said, "danse mais n'avance pas," and gloomy 
forebodings are shewn in two letters from Lord 

236 



236 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

Sheffield to his son-in-law, which were received 
at Alderley in the autumn of 1814 and the spring 
of 1815. 

The first gives Lord Sheffield's view of the 
situation, and the second describes Napoleon's own 
remarks upon it to Lord Sheffield's nephew, Mr. 
Frederick Douglas. 

Lord Sheffield to Sir John Stanley. 

Sheffield Place, October ^p, 1814. 

It is time I should provoke some symptom of 
your existence. I have no letters from Frederick 
North, ^ but I can acquaint you that we had him- 
self here, which is still better, and that he has 
been infinitely entertaining, after three or four 
months' tour on the Continent, from whence he 
arrived about three weeks ago, and where he pro- 
poses to return next week, to pass the winter at 
Nice with the Glenbervies and Lady Charlotte 
Lindsay, who are gone there, and, I might add, 
with many other English families. I begin to 
think I shall have more acquaintances on the 
Continent than in England ; the migration there is 
beyond calculation. 

The present is an anxious period. Perhaps there 
isn't in the History of the world a more complete 
instance of political imbecility than was exhibited 
in the late Peace at Paris, especially in the Allies 
not availing themselves of the very extraordinary 

^ F. North, afterwards 5th Earl of Guilford. 



1814] TALLEYRAND TO THE RESCUE 237 

opportunity of securing the tranquillity of Europe 
for a long time. 

I conceive that the most selfish ambition will not 
have been more hurtful than liberality run mad. 
And as I am not without apprehension of that 
fanaticism, which for some time has interfered even 
with Parliament, and to which there has been too 
much concession, I incline to the opinion that 
enthusiasm, as fanaticism, is generally more hurtful 
to society than scepticism. The fanatic measures 
are evidently systematic and combined. 

Everybody now looks eagerly towards the Con- 
gress of Vienna. Talleyrand displays the cloven 
foot, by refusing to recognise the junction of all 
the Netherlands. However, the Bourbons, France, 
and all Europe may be thankful to Talleyrand. 

You have often heard of Barthelemy.^ His 
brother, a banker at Paris, first moved in the 
Senate the dech6ance of the Buonaparte family. 
Alexander was treating respecting a Regency. 
The King of Prussia did not attempt to take a 
lead, but was well disposed to put down the 
dynasty. The Emperor of Austria had always 
declared that he would treat with Buonaparte for 
Peace, under restrictions, still co-operating with the 
Allies. 

While matters were in this state Talleyrand took 
the opportunity of sending a message to the Senate, 
saying that the family was deposed, and by this step 
decided the business. 

' A member of the Directory. 



238 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

Buonaparte never showed a disposition to treat 
and to agree to terms ; but when he had seemingly- 
agreed, he denied or broke off the next day. The 
failure or desertion of the Marshals completed his 
overthrow. 

It is surprising that he did not attempt to join 
Augereau's Army.i and retire into Italy, where 
he had forty thousand very good troops. At all 
events we must rest upon the pinnacle of glory 
and honour, although we have not secured a 
permanency of them. By premature concession 
we have yielded the means of securing the 
advantages we had gained. 

The affair at Lake Champlain- has been most 
unlucky, as it will encourage the Yankies, under the 
present inveterate and execrable Government, to 
persevere in a ruinous warfare — ruinous to the 
American States, and galling to this country, 
liable to be distracted by the efforts of an interested 
and mischievous faction, which, through lack of 
firmness in Government, often paralyses measures 
of the utmost consequence. 

I have seen several letters from Madrid, and I 
have one from thence now before me of the 
3rd inst. 

A degree of infatuation prevails there which you 
could hardly conceive possible. The account comes 
from a very respectable and rational quarter. The 

' In the neighbourhood of Lyons. 

= The defeat of the British Flotilla by the Americans in 
September, 18 14. 



1814] A SPANISH SINGER'S REWARD 239 

most respectable characters are most violently per- 
secuted, and the persons arraigned are confined in 
dungeons, no communication permitted; and persons 
convicted of the most atrocious acts are not even in 
disgrace. 

While officers and soldiers invalided by wounds 
are starving, the King ^ is profuse to persons of no 
merit, and has given a pension of 1,000 dollars to a 
young lady who sang before him, &c., &c. 

The Spanish Funds, which on the King's arrival 
were at 85, are now at 50. The Revenue is 
less than 20 millions of Dollars, the expenditure 
nearly 50. 

Spain is likely to be in as bad a state as ever, 
excepting the presence of a French Army ; con- 
sequently I conceive their Transatlantic Dominions 
will be lost to them. 

Nothing, however, could be more favourable to 
our Commerce than their emancipation. Such an 
event, and a proper Boundary between us and the 
American States, would be the most favourable 
result of the war to this country. 

There is an uncommonly good Pamphlet pub- 
lished on this subject entitled "A completed View of 
the points to be discussed in treating with the 
American States." I cannot do less than admire 
it, because it seems taken from my shop, or at least 
it adopts all the principles, with a considerable 
amelioration, by taking the Line of Mountains into 
the Lakes, and all the Lakes within our Boundary. 
^ Ferdinand VII., b. 1784, d. 1833. 



240 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

I am very much entertained with an Anecdote 
in a letter of the 8th inst. now before me, from 
Switzerland, which states that the Princess of 
Wales dined a few days before with the Empress 
Maria Louisa and the Archduchess Constantine,^ 
at Berne, and after dinner the Empress and Princess 
sang Duets, and the Archduchess accompanied 
them. Two years ago nobody would have believed 
such an event possible. 

All this vagabond Royalty is found extremely 
troublesome by travellers, filling up all the beds, 
and carrying away all the horses. The above 
dinner party reminds me of Candide meeting at the 
Table d'Hote during the Carnival at Venice, with 
two ex-emperors, and a few ex-kings. 

The Princess of Wales could not be prevailed on 
to remain more than ten days at Brunswick. She 
left Lady Charlotte Lindsay - and Serinyer behind 
her, and proceeded with Lady Elizabeth Forbes to 
Strasburg, where she found Talma, the renowned 
Actor, and halted there ten days. 

Lord Sheffield to Sir John Stanley. 

Sheffield Place, February i, 1815. 
We are much entertained with Fred Douglas's 3 
account of his visit of four days to the Isle of Elba. 

" Daughter of the Duke of Saxe Coburg; married in 1796 to 
the Grand Duke Constantine of Russia. 

2 Daughter of the second Earl of Guilford: married, 1800, 
John, son of Earl of Balcarres ; d. 1849. 

3 Son of Lord Glenbervie, and nephew of Lord Sheffield. 



1815] MR. DOUGLAS AND BUONAPARTE 241 

On the third evening he had an interview with 
Buonaparte for an hour and a half — the conversa- 
tion very curious. He says that Buonaparte is not 
at all like any of his Prints ; that he is a stout, 
thick-set figure, which makes him look short ; his 
features rather coarse and his eyes very light, and 
particularly dull ; but his mouth, when he smiles, 
is full of a very sweet, good-humoured expression ; 
that at first he strikes you as being a very common- 
looking man, but upon observing him and conversing 
with him, you perceive that his countenance is full 
of deep thought and decision. 

He says he received him with much good humour, 
and talked to him of the English Constitution, with 
which he seemed well acquainted ; said that France 
never could have the same, because it wanted one 
of the principal parts of it, " Les Nobles de 
Campagne." He talked also much about our 
church Laws, of which he appeared to be well 
informed, but said he heard there was much ill 
humour in Scotland on account of the Union ! 
Frederick thought he meant Ireland, but found he 
really did mean Scotland, and had no idea that 
the Union had taken place above a hundred 
years ago. 

He said he did not think the Peace would last ; 
that the French Nation would never submit long to 
give up Belgium, and that he would have yielded 
all except that ; that he would have given up the 
Slave Trade, as it was a Brigandage of very little 
use to France. He had a most extraordinary idea 

16 



242 BE^X)RP] AND AFTER WATERLOO 

of how it should be aboHshcd, viz., he said he 
would allow Polygamy among the Whites in the 
West Indies, that they might inter-marry with the 
Blacks, and all become Brothers and Sisters. He 
said that he had consulted a Bishop upon this, who 
had objected to it as contrary to the Christian 
Religion. 

He seemed very anxious to know concerning the 
quarrels of the Regent and his wife, upon which 
subject F., of course, evaded giving him any 
answers. He said, "On dit qu'il aime la Mere de 
ce Yarmouth — mais vous Anglais, vous aimez 
les vielles Femmes," and he laughed very much 
He avoided speaking of Maria Louisa, but spoke 
of Josephine with affection, saying, " Elle etoit 
une excellente Femme." He said that the motive 
of his expedition into Russia was, first, that it was 
necessary to lead the French Army somewhere, 
and then that he wished to establish Poland as an 
independent kingdom ; for that he had always 
loved the Poles, and had many obligations to them. 
He talked of all his battles as you would of a show, 
saying " C'etoit un Spectacle magnifique." 

When Napoleon had fulfilled his own prophecies 
of the prompt disturbance of the Peace of Europe 
by landing at Cannes, just six days from the date 
of this last letter, Lord Sheffield writes again, after 
war had been declared by the Allies. 



1815] NAPOLEON'S RETURN 243 

Lord Sheffield to Sir John Stanley. 

Sheffield Place, March 24, 181 5. 

I was greatly oppressed by the first intelligence 
of Napoleon's Invasion. I was afterwards re- 
elevated, and now I am tumbled down again. 

To be sure, there never was such an execrable 
nation as the French. The much more respectable 
Hindoos could not more meekly submit to any 
conqueror that chooses to run through their country 
at the head of a set of miscreant soldiers. The 
Pretorian band that in the time of Imperial Rome 
used to dispose of Empires is perfectly re-established. 
Immediate notice was sent me from Newhaven of 
the Duke of Feltre's ^ (Minister of War) arrival 
there, and of poor Louis's flight from Paris. 

I immediately set out, with the intention of 
rendering service to the variety of wretches that 
were pouring in upon our coast, English and French, 
but on my way called at Stanmer, where I found 
that this famous Minister of War was gone forward 
to London, that the few ship-loads that had got 
over to Newhaven were disposed of, and an embargo 
having been laid on the Ports of France, of course 
there was nothing more to be done on our coast. 

I returned home at night, and just as I was going 

' General Clarke, 1765-18x8. He took part in the negotia- 
tions for the Treaty of Campo I'^ormio in 1797. He was made 
Due de Feltre for his services against the English at Walcheren. 
He accepted service under Louis XVIII., and was his Minister of 
War, 1815-1816. 



244 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

out of Stanmer Park I met the Duke of Taranto ^ 
entering, for whom Lord Chichester had sent his 
carriage. The Duke of Feitre brought the intelH- 
gence that the King ^A^as at Abbeville. 

I was considerably annoyed, because it seemed 
like incHning to England, and relinquishing all hopes 
of France. At Abbeville he certainly might turn 
off to Lisle, where I hope he is gone, and there, if 
there be any loyal Frenchmen, they may flock round 
his standard. 

All accounts, and letters, that I have seen from 
France agree that the country is almost universally 
against Buonaparte, and it is very clear all the Army 
is for him, and that all the Marshals adhere to Louis, 
except two. If so, and Napoleon has not the aid 
of his old Generals, he may find it difficult to manage 
the many Armies that he must keep on foot to 
repel the attacks that will be made on him from all 
sides. 

I cannot help thinking he is in a bad situation 
still. When all the Russians, Cossacks, Croats, 
Hungarians, Austrians, and all Germany clatter 
round him, and our very respectable army from the 
Netherlands advances, if he has nothing but the 
army in his favour, he will be considerably bothered, 
and I hope the sentimental, silly Alexander will 
never be suffered to interfere with his " beaux 
sentimens" in favour of the monster. If he should 

^ Marshal Macdonald (made Due de Tarente after the battle 
of Wagram, 1809), b. 1765, d. 1840. He did not join Napoleon 
during the Hundred Days, but refused employment under the 
King, and served only as a simple soldier in the National Guard. 



1815] FLIGHT OF THE DUG DE FELTRE 245 

yhe taken and I had the command I should never 
trouble Alexander nor anybody else, but take him 
by the Drum head, giving something like the sort 
of trial the Due d'Enghien had and immediately 
extinguish him by exactly the same process, cere- 
mony, &c., as he practised on the Due d'Enghien. 

After all, and the worst of all, is that I apprehend 
we must pay the piper to enable the above-men- 
tioned Hordes to take possession of France, and 
when there I flatter myself they will live upon the 
country. If we do not make some effort of the 
kind, all the money we have shed may be in a great 
degree thrown away. One great difficulty occurs 
to me, how will it be possible to dispose of the 
present French Army if it should be conquered, 
and how raise a French Army to maintain Louis's 
dominion ? 

If Napoleon should be utterly extinguished, it 
may be possible to do something, but if he escapes 
(yet I know not where he can go) a large foreign 
Army must remain a long time in France. 

I must conclude by observing what a very extra- 
ordinary, strange creature a Frenchman is! Instead 
of attending the King, or suppressing Navy Depots 
where there are only fifty loyal men, the Minister 
of War flies to England, and, as he represented, in 
order to join the King in Flanders. At Paris 
he was certainly nearer Flanders than he was at 
Dieppe. . . . 

Yours ever, 

Sheffield. 



246 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

The Victory of Waterloo ended all fears of a 
fresh Imperial Despotism, and also all the hopes of 
those who, like Lord Sheffield and the Stanley 
family, were no great admirers of the Bourbon 
Dynasty. 

Edward Stanley's desire to revisit France was 
now coupled with a wish to realise the scene of 
the late Campaign, and he planned his journey 
so as to arrive there on the first anniversary of 
the battle, June i8, 1816. 

He was accompanied by Mrs. Stanley, by his 
brother-in-law, Edward Leycester Penrhyn,^ who 
had travelled with him in 18 14, and by their 
mutual friend, Donald Crawford. 

Mrs. Stanley's bright and graphic letters con- 
tribute to the story of their adventures, and are 
added to make it complete. 

^ Edward Leycester had inherited in December, 1815, the 
fortune of his cousin, Lady Penrhyn, \yho directed in her will 
that he should assume the name of Penrhyn. He married, in 
1823, Lady Charlotte Stanley, daughter of the 14th Earl of Derby. 



^\. 1=^^ "■ 




CHAPTER VII 

AFTER WATERLOO 

A long Channel passage — Bruges — The battlefield — A posting 
journey — Compiegne — Paris — Michael Bruce. 

M7^s. E. Stanley to Ladv Maria Stanley. 

Spring, 1816. 

. . . Edward has long talked of a week at 
Waterloo, and all the rest of the plan came 
tumbling after one day in talking it over with 
Edward Leycester, as naturally as possible, and I 
expect almost as much pleasure in seeing Cam- 
bridge and being introduced to the looks and 
manners at least of E. L.'s friends, and in seeing 
him there as in anything else. We are to pay a 
visit to Sir George and Lady Scovell at Cambray, 
and perhaps to Sheffield Place, on our return. . . 

St. John's College, Cambridge, 

June, 181 6. 

I am very glad to have this opportunity of seeing 
what a college life is, as well as seeing Cambridge 

247 



248 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

itself and its contents animate and inanimate. I 
like both very much. 

We had a very pleasant journey. The road is 
not only prettier by Ashbourne and Derby, but 
better, and, provided your nerves can stand canter- 
ing down hill sometimes, you get on faster than 
on the other road. We drank tea at Nottingham 
on Monday and went up to the Castle. 

We arrived at Cambridge by 6 o'clock on Tuesday 
evening, and found Edward deep in his studies. . . . 

This morning we breakfasted with George,^ and, 
after seeing libraries and people and buildings till 
I am tired, here I am, snug and comfortable, in 
Edward's room. . . . 

We are off to-morrow for London. 

Mrs. E. Stanley to Lady Maria Josepha Stanley. 

Blenheim Hotel, London, 

Saturday. 

As we were coming yesterday Edward looked at 
the wind and decided that if Donald was not in the 
Thames then, he would have no chance of being 
here this week. We had not been here an hour 
when in he walked in high feather and gave me 
more reasons than I can remember for leaving his 
sisters and going with us. . . . 

I have been to Waterloo ^ and in Buonaparte's 
carriage. He has given an alarm by writing to 
France in spite of all their precautions. . . . We 

' Lord Pevensey, son of Earl of Sheffield. 
2 Panorama by Barker, shown in London. 



1816] START FROM CANTERBURY 249 

have got our passports and arranged our going. 
Edward came back from the city with three plans — 
the steamboat, the packet, or a coach to ourselves 
to Ramsgate. We debated the three some time, at 
last, on the strength of hearing that the steamboat 
had been out two nights on its passage once, we 
decided on the coach, and the places were just 
secured when Mr. Foljambe came in and told us he 
was going to Ramsgate on Tuesday with some other 
friends of Edward's, and that it was the nicest vessel 
ever seen and more punctual than any coach, which 
made us all very angry as you may guess. . . . 
We set out to-morrow morning and get into the 
packet at Ramsgate at 7 in the evening. Let me 
find a nice folio at Paris, care of Perrigaux, Banquier, 
and I shall not feel your handwriting the least 
interesting thing I have to see there. 



Rev, E. Stanley to his niece, Louisa Dorothea 

Stanley. 

'KkusGkT'E, June xitk. 
Rapidly went the coach trom Canterbury, 17 
miles in an hour and a half. Fair blows the wind 
over the azure blue billow. "You will breakfast 
at Ostend," says the Captain, "to-morrow." "Oh, 
that Louisa were here ! " says Donald. " She 
would die of delight," says Uncle, "and does not 
Uncle say true ? " Conceive the view from 
Nottingham Castle on the evening we left Alderley 
... a noble precipice, frowning over a magnificent 



250 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

plain, from the terraces of which we beheld 
immediately at our feet almost numberless — for I 
counted in a second 54 — little pets of gardens, 
each adorned with a love of a summerhouse to 
suit ; in the corners of the rocks many excavations 
and caverns fancifully cut out and carved, into 
which each of the proprietors of the above-mentioned 
oj'ardens mig-ht at leisure retire and become his own 
hermit. Then how shall I touch upon the delights 
of Cambridge ? How shall I speak of Edward's 
beauty in his cap, all covered with little bows, and a 
smart black gown ? And how shall I speak of his 
dinner and his party ? Such merriment ! Such 
hospitality ! Only think, Louisa, of dining, break- 
fasting and supping day after day with 14 or 15 
most accomplished, beautiful, and entertaining young 
gentlemen ! But no more, lest you expire at the 
thought ! As for London, I cannot well tell you 
what I did or saw, such a confused multiplicity of 
sights and succession of business^ have seldom been 
experienced. At 6 this morning we started in the 
stage coach, the interior of which we took, excluding 
all intruders, and from hence at 3 o'clock on a lovely 
night, with an elegant moon, we embarked for 
Ostend. 

{Continued by Mrs. Stanley?) 

I have persuaded Uncle to carry his letter over 
the water that you may not have the anxiety of 
thinking for 2 days about the passage, which a 
gentleman who dined with us to-day informed us 



1816] BECALMED IN THE DOWNS 251 

was the most precarious, dangerous, and uncertain 
known. 

But I consoled myself with not believing the 
gentleman in the first place, and by thinking with 
Aunt Clinton that as Mrs. Carleton was drowned so 
lately at Ostend, it is not likely another accident 
should happen at present. 

Here we are, waiting for the awful moment of 
embarkation, which I consider something like having 
a tooth out, but I live in hopes that, having been up 
early this morning and had lo hours' jumbling, I 
may be sleepy enough to forget that I am on a 
shelf instead of a bed; so I have been just to admire 
the moon as we sail out of harbour, and then go 
to bed and find myself in sight of Ostend when 
I awake, 

{E. Stanley resumes next day.) 

A dead calm succeeded to a gentle breeze, and on 
the soft, sleepy billows we have reposed in the 
Downs, rolling ever since. To comfort us we have 
a beautiful Packet and a limited number of 
passengers. 

The discomfort consists in a rapid diminution of 
all our provisions and the consequent prospect of 
no Tea, supper, or breakfast, or dinner to-morrow. 
One sailor said to another as he was skinning some 
miserable fish, "Aye, aye, they" (meaning the 
passengers) "will be glad enough of these in a day 
or two, and I was eleven days becalmed last year." 

Kitty, to fill up an hour of vacuity, said she would 



252 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

draw, and to fill up my time this testifies that 1 
have been thinking of you and wishing for your 
presence, for the Novelty alone would keep you 
in full effervesence and banish all Tediosity. 

I have, moreover, been playing with a sweet little 
French dog brought by one of the sailors from 
Boulogne. The sailors have daily given him two 
glasses of gin to check his growth, and a marvellous 
dog of Lilliput he is ! Pray, my dear Lou, drink 
no gin, for you see the consequences. 

I had retired to bed, when Edward Leycester 
called me up to admire a beautiful display of 
Neptune's fireworks ; wherever the surface of the 
waves was agitated, the circles of silver flashed 
and the drops were scattered far and wide. 

The morning dawned upon us nearly in the same 
position, not a breath troubled the surface, smooth 
and still as Radnor Mere on the sweetest evening. 

Famine began to stare us in the face ; our pro- 
visions were nearly exhausted ; two or more days 
might elapse before we reached Ostend. 

We breakfasted on tea, fried skate and cheese. 
Breakfast at an end, it was proposed to board the 
nearest vessel and beg or borrow a dinner. In the 
tide course appeared a sail, about five miles distant. 

The boat was lowered, volunteers stepped 
forward — Uncle, Edward, Donald, and a gentle- 
manlike Belgian. 

Away we went and by hard rowing we came 
alongside the strange sail in an hour. Three leaden 
figures, motionless as the unwieldly bark they 



1816] A DUTCH FAMILY PARTY 253 

manned, gazed curiously upon our approaching 
boat. Our Belgian friend hailed, but hailed in vain. 
They looked but spoke not. Again he spoke, and 
at length a monotonous " yaw " proclaimed that 
they were not dumb. 

We went on board and found a perfect Dutch 
family on their way from Antwerp to Rouen. Out 
stepped from her cabin the Captain's wife in 
appropriate costume, her close little cap, large gold 
necklace and ear-rings ; and behind the Captain's 
spouse stepped forth two genuine descendants of 
the nautical couple. Large round heads with large 
round (what shall I say.-*) Hottentots to match 
and keep up the due balance between head and 
tail. 

Having explained our wants to the Captain, he 
produced as the chief restorative an incomparable 
bottle of Schiedam, i.e.. gin. To each he offered a 
good large glass, and then in answer to our request 
for beef, four bottles of excellent claret, two square 
loaves. For this he asked a guinea, upon receiving 
which his features relaxed and he declared we should 
have two more bottles of claret. Upon hearing we 
had a lady in the packet he begged her acceptance 
of half a neat's tongue, some butter, and a bag of 
rusks. Loaded with them, we took a joyful leave of 
these sombre sailors and returned, with the orange 
cravat of our Belgian friend for a flag, in triumph 
to the packet. 

But a truce to my pen. Ostend is in sight, and 
now we are all rubbing our hands and congratulating 



254 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

each other that wind and tide are in our favour and 
that we shall be in in a couple of hours. 

Rev. E. Stanley to his niece, Isabella Stanley.^ 

'^Vi\5Q,^'S,, June 14, 1816. 

On our return from the Dutch vessel from which 
we recruited our exhausted store, we found our 
poor Captain in sad tribulation, his patience ex- 
hausted, but his temper luckily preserved. Having 
paced his deck with a fidgeting velocity a due 
number of times, peeped thro' his glass at every 
distant sail or cloud to observe whether they were 
in any degree movable, and invoked Boreas in the 
most pitiable terms such as "Oh Borus ! Now 
do, good Borus just give us a blow," we had the 
satisfaction at length, the supreme satisfaction, 
of perceiving a gentle curl upon the water which 
soon settled into a steady breeze, before which we 
glided away, delightfully enjoying our dinner upon 
the deck, during which our party manifested their 
respective characters in most charming style. One 
Farmer Dinmont - and Dousterswivel, a Dutch- 
man, were perfect specimens. A merry Belgian 
Equerry to the Prince of Orange, laughed, joked, and 
amused us with sleight-of-hand tricks. Our Dutch 
beef, tho' doubtless salt far beyond due proportion, 
was relished by all, Dinmont excepted, who pro- 
nounced it, together with the dark-coloured bread, 
unfit for English hogs, and shook his head with 

' Married Sir Edward Parry, K.C.B., the Arctic navigator, 1826. 
=^ Allusions to the characters in " Guy Mannering." 



1816] LANDING AT OSTEND 255 

a most significant expression of doubt at my 
assertion that I never enjoyed a better dinner in 
my life . At five o'clock the low sand hills appeared 
to view in little nodules upon the horizon, and 
the Steeple of Ostend with its Lighthouse were 
visible from deck. At 6 we were close in upon 
land, and in half an hour were boarded by a Dutch 
boat, but alas ! there was nothing in its appearance 
to excite curiosity, and with the exception of large 
earrings you might have fancied yourself in Holy- 
head Harbour. Four stout, tall fellows, hard and 
resolute in feature and decided in action, pro- 
claimed their near alliance to British Jack Tars. 
They remained a litde while and tried to cheat 
the passengers as much as possible, to take us on 
shore, but finding us determined to remain till the 
Captain could get his own boat ready, they shrugged 
their shoulders, abused us in Dutch, and sailed 
away. We were too many for one boat, so taking 
Kitty and the best of our English passengers and 
honest Farmer Dinmont, with all the luggage, we 
pushed off from the vessel. People of all de- 
scriptions, pilots, sailors, customs officers, soldiers, 
waiters soliciting customs for their respective turns. 
Porters regular and irregular, the latter consisting 
of a sort of light Infantry corps of ragged boys. 
All these people, I say, were crowded together on 
a little peninsular jetty against which our boat 
was shoved, and no sooner had the oars ceased 
to play and our keel cleared the sand than all these 
people set up their pipes in every dialect of every 



256 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

tongue, French and English both bad of their 
sort, Dutch high and low, Flemish and German. 
All burst upon us at one and the same moment, and 
the Cossack corps of ragged porters all stept 
forward, arm, leg and foot, to claim the honour 
of carrying up (most probably of carrying off) our 
baggage. By dint of words fair and foul, a shove 
here and a push there, I contrived to get Kitty 
under my arm and superintend, tho' with no small 
trouble and inconceivable watchfulness, the adjust- 
ment of our small portmanteaux, writing case, &c., 
in a wheelbarrow, which, from its formidable length 
of handle, bespoke its foreign manufacturer. On 
we jogged, but jogged not long ; for before this 
accumulating procession could disperse we were 
arrested by a whiskered soldier, who in unin- 
telligible terms announced himself a searcher of 
baggage. So to the custom house we went, when 
each trunk was opened and submitted to a slight 
inspection ; the chief difficulty consisting in putting 
myself in 2 places at once — one close to the depot 
of our goods in the barrow, the other before 
the officer with the keys. Kitty was wedged in 
a corner with a writing case and, I think, Donald's 
sword. My English companion was equally on the 
alert, but Farmer Dinmont would have excited 
all your compassion, or rather admiration ; for here 
amidst the din of tongues and arms, unable to move 
hand or foot, he stood with a smile of mingled 
resignation and wonder ; at length, the search being 
concluded to the satisfaction of both parties, we 



1816] CURIOUS COSTUMES 257 

re-commenced our course, and in a few minutes 
Kitty found herself in a new world. Women and 
children unlike any women and children you ever 
saw ; close caps with butterfly wings for the former, 
little black skull bonnets for the latter, in shape 
both alike, much resembling those toys which, 
if placed on their heads, by their superior specific 
gravity and extensive sacrifice of their lower pro- 
jections instantly revolve and settle upon their 
tails. 

" Voici, Messieurs et Madame, entrons dans la 
Cour Imperiale," and another moment hoisted us 
within the covered gateway of this Hotel of 
Imperial appellation. Our arrangements for sleep- 
ing and eating being complete, we sat down on 
a bench before the door to gaze, but not to be 
gazed upon, for the good people never cast an 
eye upon us. On retiring to tea, good Farmer 
Dinmont's countenance relaxed as he flune himself 
into a chair ; he put his hands upon the table and 
exclaimed, " Well, well, here I am sitting down for 
the first time out of Old England ! "... A cup 
of tea, or rather a ketde full, for our salt beef had 
kindled an insatiable thirst, put him in good humour 
again, and, but for a sort of sigh or a look or 
a jerk which proved Old England to be uppermost 
in his thoughts, he appeared quite satisfied. With 
some trouble Kitty secured the fly cap chambermaid 
and had taken possession of her room ; having seen 
her safe, I descended to give orders for a warming- 
pan, leaving her (after having been 2 nights in 

17 



258 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

her clothes) to the luxury of an entire change of 
linen and course of ablutions. On re-crossing the 
court lo minutes afterwards I ran against a waiter 
running off with a warming-pan, glowing with red- 
hot embers. " Mais don9 " said I, " Meidame wants 
a warming-pan. Allons, where is the chambermaid 
to carry it?" "Oh, n'importe," replied this flying 
Mercury ; " c'est moi qui fera cela pour la dame ! " 
Only guess Kitty's escape ! Another moment and 
he would have been in her presence, warming-pan 
and all. By dint of remonstrating I checked his 
course and prevailed upon the Maid to go herself 
with vast ill humour, innumerable shrugs, and some 
few " Mon Dieu's " and other suitable expressions. 
Kitty must herself be the interpreter of her own 
feelings in these lands of novelty. I am almost 
glad you were, none of you, here to witness 
what she will have such pleasure in describing. 
Our morning passed away in strolling over the 
town. Kitty and I dined at the table d'hote with 
about 20 people. Farmer Dinmont sent for a bottle 
of the best wine to try it and offered me a glass. 
I begged to propose a toast, " Prosperity to Old 
England." His features brightened up, he grasped 
the bottle, filled a bumper, and replied, " Aye, aye, 
with all my heart ; that Toast I would drink in ditch 
water." We left Ostend at 3 o'clock to take 
passage in the Bruges canal, and I do assure you 
we all felt quite sorry to leave our dear, good, honest 
John Bull. 

At Saas we fell in with a specimen of Lord 



1816] TO BRUGES ON A BARGE 259 

Wellington's operations. There is a formidable 
battery erected last year by way of guarding Ostend 
from a " coup de main " ; it is singular that the 
English have placed a Battery for the defence 
close to the celebrated sluice gates of this canal, 
which gates were blown up by Sir Evelyn Coote 
to prevent the French from inundating the country, 
when he invaded it some years before. 

Behold us seated in a spacious room, for it does 
not deserve the diminutive name of " Cabin," 
decorated with hangings of green cloth and gold 
border, on board a most commodious barge. Behold 
us on a lovely evening starting from the Quay with 
full sail and 3 horses, a man mounted on one 
and cracking a great long whip to drive on the 
other two, which trotted away abreast at the rate 
of 4^ miles an hour. Behold us seated on this easy 
chair of Neptune ! our ears deafened and our spirits 
enlivened by a band of music — trumpet, violin, and 
bass — admirably playing Waltzes and other national 
tunes. When they had amused us on deck they 
went below to another class of auditors. Our 
fellow traveller, Mr. Trueman, followed them, and 
perceiving him to be English they struck up "God 
save the King." A Frenchman called out " Ba, 
ba," a very expressive mode of communicating 
disapprobation, but seeing Trueman was of a 
different opinion, he ceased from his " Ba, ba," and 
stepping towards him made him a low bow. About 
6 o'clock we arrived at Bruges, or rather to the wharf 
from whence passengers betake themselves and 



260 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

portmanteaux to barrows and sledges. As we 
approached our Band resumed their musical exer- 
tions. A crowd assembled to welcome our arrival, 
Gigs, coaches (such coaches!!). Horsemen (such 
Horsemen ! ! ), were parading. Such a light with 
such a rainbow shone upon such an avenue and such 
picturesque gate ! ! Our baggage filled a car drawn 
by 3 stout men ; and we all followed in the rear. 
. . . Bruges is a town affordincr five or six volumes 
of sketches ; towers, roofs, gable ends, bridges — all in 
succession called for exclusive admiration. It was 
decided that we should rise at 4, breakfast at 
6, and see all that was possible before 9, when 
we were to continue our route to Ghent. At 3 
o'clock I was prepared, but a steady rain forced me 
reluctantly to bed again, but we did breakfast at 6, 
and did pick up two or three sketches. 

Mrs. E. Stanley to Lady Maria J. Stanley. 

Brussels, yune 18, 181 6. 
On the 1 8th of June, how can I begin with any 
other subject than Waterloo .'*... At 8 this morning 
we mounted our Cabriolets for Waterloo. Donald 
put on his Waterloo medal for the first time, and a 
French shirt he got in the spoils, and a cravat of an 
officer who was killed, and I wrapped myself in his 
Waterloo cloak, and we all felt the additional sensa- 
tion which the anniversary of the day produced on 
everybody. It brought the comparison of the past 
and present day more perfectly home. Donald was 



1816] THE FOREST OF SOIGNIES 261 

ready with his recollections every minute of the day, 
what had been his occupation or his feeling. The 
forest of Soignies is a fine approach to the field of 
battle — dark, damp, and melancholy. If you had 
heard nothing about it, you could hardly help feel- 
ing, in passing through it, that you would not like 
to cross it alone. There are no fine trees, but the 
extent and depth of wood gives it all the effect of a 
fine one, and an effect particularly suited to the 
associations connected with it. The road — a 
narrow pavement in the middle with black mud on 
each side — looks as if it had never felt a ray of sun, 
and from its state to-day gave me a good idea of 
what it must have been. Sometimes the road is 
raised thro' a deep hollow, and it was not possible 
to look down without shuddering at the idea of the 
horses and carriages and men which had been over- 
turned one upon another ; in some parts the trees 
are a la Ralph Leycester, and you see the dark 
black of shade of the distant wood through them ; 
but in other parts it is so choked with brushwood 
and inequalities of ground, that you could not see 
two yards before you, and no gorge was ever so 
good a cover for foxes as this for all evil-disposed 
persons. At Waterloo we stopped to see the 
Church, or rather the monuments in it, put up by 
the different regiments over their fallen officers. 
They are all badly designed and executed but one 
Latin one — not half so good as the epitaph on Lord 
Anglesey's leg which the man had buried with the 
utmost veneration in his garden and planted a tree 



262 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

over it ; and he shows as a relic almost as precious 
as a Catholic bit of bone or blood, the blood upon a 
chair in the room when the leg was cut off, which 
he had promised my lord "</<? ne jamais effacerT 

At Mont St. Jean Donald began to know where 
he was. Here he found the well where he had got 
some water for his horse ; here the green pond he 
had fixed upon as the last resource for his troop ; 
here the cottage where he had slept on the 17th ; 
here the breach he had made in the hedge for his 
horses to get into the field to bivouac ; here the 
spot where he had fired the first gun ; here the hole 
in which he sat for the suro^eon to dress his wound. 
He had never been on the field since the day of the 
battle, and his interest in seeing it again and dis- 
covering every spot under its altered circumstances 
was fully as great as ours. 

After all that John Scott ^ or Walter Scott or 
anybody can describe or even draw, how much 
more clear and satisfactory is the conception which 
one single glance over the reality gives you in an 
instant, than any you can form from the best and 
most elaborate description that can be given ! To 
see it in perfection would be to have an officer of 
every regiment to give you an account just of every- 
thing he saw and did on the particular spot where 
he was stationed. 

Donald scarcely knew as much as Edward did or 
as the people about of what passed anywhere but 
iust at his own station. But at every place it was 
' John Scott, painter, 1 774-1828, 



1816] THE BRITISH POSITION 263 

sufficient to ask the inhabitants where they were 
and what they saw, to obtain interesting information. 

Every plan I have seen makes it much too 
irregular, rough ground ; it is all undulating, smooth 
ups and downs, so gradual that you must look some 
time before you discover all the irregularity there 
is. Hougoumont ^ is the only interesting point, and 
that by having an air of peace and retirement about 
it most opposite to what took place in it. 

It is a respectable, picturesque farmhouse, with 
pretty trees and sweet fields all around it ; the 
ravages are not repaired and many of the trees cut 
down. We left our carriages in the road and 
walked all over the British position, and hencefor- 
ward I shall have a clearer idea, not only of 
Waterloo, but of what a military position and 
military plan is like. 

At La Belle Alliance we sat upon a bench where 
Lord Wellington and Bliicher perhaps met, and 
drank to their healths in Vin de Bordeaux. In 
spite of the corn, there are still bits of leather caps 
and bullets and bones scattered about in the fields, 
and you are pestered with children innumerable 
with relics of all sorts. We had heard magnificent 
accounts on our road here of all that was to be 
done on the field, balls, fetes, sham fights, proces- 
sions, and I do not know what, but they have all 
dwindled to a dinner given here to the Belgian 
soldiers and a Mass to be said for the souls of the 

' Hougoumont was occupied by Byng's Brigade, and resisted 
the repeated attacks of the French throughout the battle. 



264 |{l-:hH)mO AND AFTER WATl<^.in.()0 

(Ic'.ul to morrow. 1 lowevcr, wc saw wliat we 
wished as wc wished, and die ini[)ression is per- 
haps clearer than it' it had been disturbed and 
mixed witli other sights. 

And now, beinj4 near 12, and I iiavini; walked 
about S miles, antl bec'u up since 6, must go to bed, 
thoui^ii 1 l(>el neither sle('()y nor tired. 



To Lucy Stmiley. 

'Yi/nc 2.\, 1816. 

. . . Away with me to Waterloo ! 

We arrived at i>russels on the evening of the 
17th, and at seven o'clock started for the scene of 
action. I'rom Brussels a paved roail, with a carriai^e 
track on each side, [xisses lor nint; miles to the village 
of Waterloo. 

'V\\r h'orest (of Soignies) is, without exception, 
one of the most cut-throat-looking spots I ever 
beheld, . . . and for some days after the battle 
deserters and strag'olers, chielly l^russians, took up 
their abode in this ap|)ropriate place, and sallying 
h)rth, robbed, phmclerctl, and oltcn shot those who 
were unfortunate enough to travel alone or in small 
defenceless parties. 

After traversing this gloomy avenue for about 
four miles, the first symptoms of war met our ey(;s 
in tlu; shape of a dead horse, whose ribs glared like 
a cheval-de-frise from a tumulus of mud. If the 
ghosts of the dead haunt these sepulchral groves, 
we must have passed through an army of spirits, as 



N3 



s 






*^ 




h' \l 



i 



MM tii 



-^^■i.X-^i^rB Mi 



;%.a .».u 











1816] PEACEFUL HOUGOUMONT 265 

our driver, who had visited the scene three days 
after the battle, described the last four miles as a 
continued pavement of men and horses dying and 
dead. 

At length a dome appears at the termination of 
the avenue. It is the church of Waterloo. They 
were preparing for a mass and procession, and the 
houses were most of them adorned with festoons of 
flowers or branches of trees. . . . 

. . . We turned to the right down the Nivelle road, 
for it was there Donald's gun was placed, and some 
labourers who were ploughing on the spot brought 
us some iron shot and fragments of shell which they 
had just turned up. The hedges were still tolerably 
sprinkled with bits of cartridge-paper, and remnants 
of hats, caps, straps, and shoes were discernible all 
over the plains. Hougoumont was a heap of ruins, 
for it had taken fire during the action, and presented 
a very perfect idea of the fracas which had taken 
place that day year. How different now ! A large 
flock of sheep, with their shepherd, were browsing 
at the gate, and the larks were singing over its 
ruins on one of the sweetest days we could have 
chosen for the visit. As I was taking a sketch in 
a quiet corner I heard a vociferation so loud, so 
vehement, and so varied, that I really thought two 
or three people were quarrelling close to me. In a 
moment the vociferator (for it was but one) appeared 
at my elbow with an explosion of French oaths and 
gesticulations equal to any discharge of grape-shot 
on the day of attack. "Comment, Monsieur," said 



266 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

I, "What is the matter?" "Oh, les coquins ! les 
sacres coquins " and away he went, abusing the 
coquins in so ambiguous a style that I doubted 
whether his wrath was venting against Napoleon or 
against his opponents. "Oui," remarked I, "ils 
sont coquins ; et Buonaparte, que pensez-vous de 
lui ? " This was a sort of opening which I trusted 
would bring him to the point without a previous 
committal of myself. It certainly did bring him to 
the point, for he gave a bounce and a jump and his 
tongue came out, and his mouth foamed, and his 
eyes rolled, as with a jerk he ejaculated, " Napoleon ! 
qu'est-ce que je pense de lui ? " It was well for 
poor Napoleon that he was quiet and comfortable 
in St. Helena, for had he been at Hougoumont, I 
am perfectly convinced that my communicant would 
have sent him to moulder with his brethren in arms. 
Having vented his rage, I asked him if the French 
had ever got within the walls. " Yes," he said, 
" three times ; but they were always repulsed " ; he 
assured me he had been there during the attack and 
that he saw them within ; but added, " How they 
came in at that door " (pointing to the gate by 
which we were standing and which was drilled with 
bullets), " or when they came in, or how or where 
they got out I cannot tell you, for what with the 
noise, and the fire, and the smoke, I scarcely knew 
where I was myself 

One of the farm servants begged me to observe 
the chapel, which he hinted had been indebted to 
a miracle for its safety, and certainly as a good 



■f?" '^ IIS i; 
' III If 




1816] LA BELLE ALLIANCE 267 

Catholic he had a fair foundation for his belief, as 
the flames had merely burnt about a yard of the 
floor, having been checked, as he conceived, by the 
presence of the crucifix suspended over the door, 
which had received no other injury than the loss of 
part of its feet. He had remained there till morn- 
ing, when, seeing the French advance and guessing 
their drift, he contrived to make good his escape, 
but returned the following day. What he then saw 
you may guess when I tell you that at the very 
door I stood upon a mound composed of earth and 
ashes upon which 800 bodies had been burnt. 
Every tree bore marks of death, and every ditch 
was one continued grave. 

From Hougoumont we walked to La Belle 
Alliance,^ crossing the neutral ground between the 
armies ; a few days ago a couple of gold watches 
had been found, and I daresay many a similar 
treasure yet remains. At La Belle Alliance, a 
squalid farm house, we rested to take some refresh- 
ment. For a few biscuits and a bottle of common 
wine the woman asked us five francs, which being 
paid, I followed her into the house. Not perceiving 
me at the door, she met her husband, and bursting 
into a loud laugh, with a fly-up of arms and legs 
(for nothing in this country is done without gesti- 
culation), she exclaimed, " Only think ! ces gens-la 
m'ont donn^ cinq francs." In this miserable pot- 
house did the possessor find 280 wounded wretches 

' Napoleon's army, on the day of Waterloo, occupied the 
plateau of La Belle Alliance. 



268 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

jammed too-ether and welterinof in blood when he 
returned on Monday morning. If T proceed to 
more particulars I foresee I should fill folios. 

I must carry you at once to La Haye Sainte.' It 
was alonof a hed^e that the severest work took 
place ; it made me shudder to think that upon a 
space of fifty square yards 4,000 bodies were found 
dead. The ditches and the field formed one great 
grave. The earth told in very visible terms what 
occasioned its elasticity ; upon forcing a stick down 
and turning up a clod, human bodies in an offensive 
state of decay immediately presented themselves. I 
found four Belgian peasants commenting upon one 
figure which was scarcely interred, and on walking 
under the outer wall of La Haye Sainte a hole was 
tenanted by myriads of maggots feasting upon a 
corpse. 

Here stands the Wellington tree,- peppered with 
shot and stripped as high as a man can jump of its 
twigs and leaves, for every passenger jumps up for 
a relic. We stood upon the road where Buonaparte 
(defended by high banks) sent on, but didnt lead, 
6,000 of his old Imperial Guard. They charged 
along the road up to La Haye Sainte, dwindling as 
they went by the incessant fire of '^o pieces of 

^ A farm occupied by the King's German Legion under Major 
Baring; after a gallant resistance captured by the French at 
4 o'clock on June i8th. 

^ Wellington watched the battle from the shade of an elm-tree, 
which was afterwards sold to an Englishman, who made the wood 
into boxes and sold them as memorials. 



1816] A PLAGUE OF MICE 269 

Artillery, many of them within a few yards, till 
their number did not exceed 300. Then Napoleon 
turned round to Bertrand, lifted his hand, cried out, 
" C'est tout perdu, c'est tout fini," and galloped off 
with La Corte and Bertrand," quitting most 
probably for ever a field of battle. 

A continued sheet of corn or fallowed fields 
occupy the whole plain. The crops are indifferent 
and the reason assigned is curious. The whole 
being trampled down last year, became the food of 
mice, which in consequence repaired thither from 
all quarters and increased and multiplied to such 
a degree that the soil is quite infested by 
them. 

Upon the heights where the British squares 
received the shock of the French Cavalry, we 
found an English officer's cocked hat, much injured 
apparently by a cannon shot, with its oilskin 
rotting away, and showing by its texture, shape, 
and quality that it had been manufactured by a 
fashionable hatter, and most probably graced the 
wearer's head in Bond Street and St. James's. 
Wherever we went we were surrounded by boys 
and beggars offering Eagles from Frenchmen's 
helmets, cockades, pistols, swords, cuirasses, and 
other fragments. 

At Brussels they gave the Belgian troops a 
dinner in a long, shady avenue, which was more 

' General Bertrand, 17 73- 1844; fought in Egypt and dis- 
tinguished himself at Austerlitz and in the campaigns of Wagram 
and Moscow. He followed Napoleon to Elba and to St. Helena. 



270 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

than they deserved, and in the evening the Town 
was illuminated. In the Newspaper I daresay 
there will be a splendid account of it, but it was a 
wretched display in the proportion of one tallow 
candle to 50 windows stuck up to glimmer and go 
out without the slightest taste or regularity. 

From Brussels we started in a nice open Barouche 
Landau on Thursday, the 20th. We again crossed 
the Field of Waterloo and proceeded towards 
Genappes, a road along which we jogged merrily 
and peaceably, but which had last year on this same 
day been one continued scene of carnage and con- 
fusion : Prussians cutting off French heads, arms 
and legs by hundreds ; Englishmen in the rear 
going in chase, cheering the Prussians and urging 
them in pursuit ; the French, exhausted with 
fatigue and vexation, making off in all directions 
with the utmost speed. 

At Genappes we changed horses in the very 
courtyard where Napoleon's carriage was taken . . . 
and were shown the spot where the Brunswick 
Hussars cut down the French General as a retali- 
ation for the life of the Duke. The Postmaster 
told us what he could, which was not much ; the only 
curious part was that in his narrative he never 
called the Highland Regiments "Les Ecossais," but 
" Les Sans Culottes." The setting sun found us all 
covered with dust, rather tired and very hungry, 
and driving up, with some misgivings from what we 
had heard and from what we saw, to our Inn at 
Charleroi. " This is an abominable-looking house," 



1816] ROUGH ROADS AND DAINTY FARE 271 

said Donald. " Oh, jump out before we drive in and 
ask what we can get to eat." " Well, Donald, 
what success ? " we all cried like young birds upon 
the return of the old one to the gaping, craving 
mouths in their nest. " The Landlady says she 
has nothing at all in the house, but if you will come 
in thinks something may be killed which will suffice 
for supper." This was a bad prospect. . . . 

We three went on in quest of better accommo- 
dation, and drove first to enquire at the Post House. 
The first question the Postmaster asked was. What 
could induce us to come to a place from which there 
was no exit? We told him we wished to go to 
Maubeuge. Had you seen his shoulders elevate 
themselves above his ears. " To Maubeuge ! Why, 
it is utterly impossible." " Well, then," we said, " to 
Mons." " Le chemin est execrable." " To Phillippe 
ville." " Encore plus mauvais." As a proof of 
which he told us that a government courier had two 
days before insisted upon being forwarded thither, 
that they had sent him off at 2 in the morning, to 
insure him time before daylight, that at 9 in the 
morning he was brought back, having proceeded 
with the utmost difficulty 2 leagues, and then being 
deposited in a rut by the fracture of his carriage. 
After a great deal of pro and con it was agreed that 
with more horses and great caution and stock of 
patience the road to Mons should be attempted, and 
we were directed to " Le Grand Monarque," a good 
name for these times, applicable to Buonaparte or 
Louis XVIII. 



272 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

It was worth while to lose our way and encounter 
these unexpected difficulties for the amusement 
the landlady afforded us. We seemed almost at 
the end of the world. I am sure we felt so, for the 
people were so odd. Dinner she promised, and in 
half an hour proved by a procession of half a dozen 
capital dishes how wonderfully these people under- 
stand the art of cookery, in a place which in 
England would be considered upon a par with the 
" Eagle and Child." ^ We asked her about the road 
in hopes of hearing a more satisfactory account. 
With a nod and a shrug, and an enlargement of the 
mouth and projection of lip, she replied, "Messieurs, 
je ne voudrais pas etre un oiseau de mauvais augure, 
mais, pour les chemins il faut avouer qu'ils sont 
effroyables." 

I will venture to say such a "oiseau" as our 
speaker has never before been seen or heard of by 
any naturalist or ornithologist. Her figure and 
cloak were both inimitable. She P"ave such a trafji- 
comic account of her sufferings last year, during the 
time of the retreat, and in 1814 when the Russians 
were there, that while she laughed with one eye and 
cried with the other, we were almost inclined to do 
the same. She had been pillaged by a French 
officer in a manner which surpassed any idea we 
could have formed of French oppression and bar- 
barity. At one time the Cossacks caught her, and 
on some dispute about a horse, 4 of them took her 
each by an arm and leg and laying her upon her 
' Inn at Alderley. 



1816] PICTURESQUE BRUGES 273 

** Ventre " flat as a pancake, a fifth cracked his 
knout (whip) most fearfully over her head, and 
prepared himself to apply the said whip upon our 
poor landlady. By good fortune an officer rescued 
her from their clutches, but she shivered like a jelly 
when she described her feelings in her awkward 
position, like a boat upon the shore bottom up- 
wards. Then she told us how her husband died of 
fright, or something very near it. Her account of 
him was capital, " II ^toit," said she, " un bon papa 
du temps passe," by which perhaps you may imagine 
she was young and handsome. She was very old 
and as ugly as Hecate. 

Well, my sheet is at an end, and my hand quite 
knocked up. We did get to Mons, but the roads 
were "effroyable." At one moment (luckily we 
were not in it) the carriage stuck in the mud and 
paused. " Shall I go ? or shall I not go.-* " Luckily 
it preferred the latter, and returned to its position 
on 4 wheels instead of 2. 

E. Stanley. 

Afrs. E. Stanley to Lady Maria Stanley. 

And now to return to what pleased me first: 
Bruges — where I first felt myself completely out of 
England. The buildings were so entirely unlike any 
I have seen before that I could have fancied myself 
rather walking amongst pictures than houses. The 
winding streets are so interesting when you do not 
know what new sight a new turn will present ; 

18 



274 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

especially when, as in this case, the new sight was 
so satisfactory every time. Ghent is a much finer 
town but not near so picturesque ; but we were 
fortunate in falling in here with a fine Catholic 
procession. We went to the top of the Cathedral, 
and as we were comincr down the orreat bell tolled 
and announced the procession had begun. We 
almost broke our necks in our hurry to get a peep, 
and we did arrive at a loop-hole in time to see the 
whole mass of priests and procession in slow motion 
down the great aisle and to hear their chant. It 
was very fine indeed, tho' to our heretical feelings 
the interest lies as much in the romantic associations 
connected with all the Roman Catholic ceremonies 
as in anything better. It is not in human nature 
not to feel more devotion in the imposing solemnity 
of such a church. The " Descents from the Cross " 
were just put up, and with the organ playing and 
mass going on, and the number of female figures 
with their black scarfs over their heads kneeling on 
chairs in different parts of the Cathedral, we saw 
them to greater advantage than surrounded by 
French bonnets and other pictures in the Louvre. 
They are quite different to any Rubens I ever saw 
before ; the colouring so much deeper and the figures 
so superior. 

But no one should be allowed to enter that 
Cathedral without the black scarf, which makes a 
young face look pretty and an old one picturesque ; 
and there were several common people gazing at the 
picture with as much admiration and adoration 



^ 



'^ 



! ,.,',w6fe ■— .- ^ —ij '^"'^ J 








1816] A BAROUCHE AND THREE 275 

painted on their faces as there probably was on 
ours. 

At Brussels there were more pictures from the 
Louvre, but the Brutes had packed up the Rubens 
without any covering or precaution whatever, and 
there they are with a hole thro' one, and the other 
covered with mildew and stains from rain and dirt. 
From Ghent we travelled in two cabriolets to 
Brussels, which were not quite so easy or pleasant 
as the Canal boats ; but the accommodations as far 
as Brussels have been really superbe. I have longed 
for the papers or the carpets or the marble tables in 
every room we have been in ; and I have learned to 
consider dinner as a matter of great curiosity and 
importance, and I cannot wonder that Englishmen 
are not proof against the temptations of living well 
and so cheap. Brussels is a nice place ; there 
appear to be so many pleasant walks and rides in all 
directions. The country about is so pretty, and 
the town (with the exception of the steep hill which 
you must ascend to get to the best part of it) very 
cheerful and agreeable looking .... Every place 
swarms with English; we have met four times as 
many English carriages and travellers as we did on 
our road to London. 

Our weather has been very favourable. We had 
a cool day for walking about at Waterloo, and the 
next day a delightful bright sunshine to show off the 
Palace of Laeken to advantage. It is the place 
where Bonaparte intended to sleep on the i8th, and 
he fitted it up. It is three miles from Brussels, 



276 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

commanding a view of the whole country and 
surrounded by trees and pleasure-grounds in the 
English style. After looking at buildings and towns 
so much, it was an agreeable relief to admire shady 
walks and fine trees. We went to the Theatre, 
which was execrable, but at Ghent we were very 
much amused with some incomparable acting. 

We left Brussels yesterday morning in a Barouche 
and three, which is to take us to Paris. It holds us 
four in the inside and John on the box as nicely as 
we could wish and is perfectly easy. We suit each 
other as well in other respects as in the carriage. 
Donald is an excellent compagnon de voyage — full of 
liveliness, good humour, and curiosity, enjoying 
everything in the right way. He and Edward 
Leycester are my beaux, while E.S. does the 
business ; which makes it much pleasanter to me 
than if I had only one gentleman with me. In 
short, we had not a difficulty till yesterday. We 
came by Waterloo again and picked up Lacoite to 
get what we could from him , and then to Charleroi, 
being told the road by Nivelles was impassable. 
The road to Charleroi was bad, and we did not arrive 
till 9, having had no eatable but biscuit and wine. 
Donald entered the hotel to enquire what we could 
have for dinner, and returned with the melancholy 
report that the woman had literally nothing, and did 
not know where any were to be procured, but that 
she would kill a hen and dress it if we liked ! We 
sent Donald and Edward, as a forlorn hope, to see 
if there was another inn, and after a long search 




i^^^'^^R^Pp^^^SjJr 






f^T.;^ 







^^m%l mil 







1816] TEAM OF NINE DOGS 277 

they found one, whereupon the postillion found out 
that he had no drag-chain and could not properly 
descend the montagne. However, after some 
arguments, and my descent from the carriage, and 
Donald and John walking on each side the wheels 
with large stones ready to place before them in case 
they were disposed to run too fast, we arrived at the 
Inn at the foot of the Hill, from which issued an old 
woman who might have sat for Gil Bias' or Caleb 
Williams' old woman. When she heard where we 
were going, she shook her head and said she did not 
like to be un oiseau de mauvais augure but that the 
only road we could go was very nearly impassable. 
The people and the children in the street crowded 
round the carriage as if they had never seen one 
before, and, in short, we found that we had got into 
a cul-de-sac. 

However, our adventures for the night finished by 
the old woman giving us so good a dinner and so 
many good stories of herself and the Cossacks, that 
we did not regret having been round, especially now 
when we are safely landed at Valenciennes without 
either carriage or bones broke — over certainly the 
very worst road I ever saw. 

We shall be at Paris on Monday or Tuesday, I 
think. Adieu. 

Rev. E. Stanley to his niece, Rianette Stanley. 

. . . Before leaving Brussels for ever, it is im- 
possible not to speak about the dogs. What would 



27S |{|<]F()ltIO AND A FT H] If, WATIOIiLOO 

yoii s.iy, wh.'it would you ihink, and liow would you 
lau^L^li ;it soiiu; of lIk^sc wondrous (;(|uipaj^es. You 
meet them in all dir(;ctions carrying" every species of 
load. 'Plicy were only surj)a,ssed by one vehicle we 
met on the road drawn by nine, and as luck would 
have it, just as we passed, the five leaders fell to 
fighting and ran their carriage over some high 
stones. Then the women within began to scream 
and th(.' driver without b(\gan to whip, which caused 
an inevitable scene of bustle and j)erj)l(;xity. . . . 

At Ouiverain we passed lUv. line of s(;paration 
between France and Belgium and were subjected to 
a close ins])ection by tlu; Custom House Officers, 
during which some Bandana handkerchiefs of 
Edward's were for a time in great jeopardy, but they 
v^ere finally returned and "nous voila" in "la belle 
F' ranee." The change was perceptibh^ in more wa.ys 
than one. Before we had travelletl a mile we 
beheld a proof of this subjugated state in the person 
of a Cossack "en plein costume," with two narrow, 
horizontal (;yes placed at the lo|) of his forehc^id, 
bespeaking his Tartar origin. Upon a log of timber 
twenty more were sitting smoking. The Russian 
lu;ad([uarters are at Maubeuge, but the Cossacks are 
scattered all over tlu; frontier villages and are seen 
everywhere. We 1(^11 in with at least a hundred. 
They are very (juiet and much liked by the peo[)le. 
The 1 )uke of Wellington, when returning to 
Valenciennes a few days ago from Maubeuge, was 
escorted by a party of these gipsy guards. 

On approac:hing Valenciennes other tokens of 



1816] BREAKFAST WITH AN ASTRONOMER 279 

conquest appeared. A clean-looking inn, with a 
smart g-arden in Islington style, presented itself, 
bearing a sign with an English name containing the 
additional intelligence that London Porter and 
Rum, Gin, and Brandy were all there, and to be 
had. 

Over many a window we saw a good John Bull 
board with " Spirituous Liquors Sold Here " in- 
scribed thereon in broad British characters, unlike 
the " Spiritual Lickers " in the miserable letters upon 
the signboards at Ostend. As to Valenciennes, 
nothing was French but the houses and Inns. The 
visible population were red-coated soldiers, and it 
was impossible not to fancy that our journey was a 
dream, and that we had in fact re-opened our eyes 
in England. 

Of hornworks, demi-lunes, and ravelines I shall 
speak to your Papa when I fight my battle once 
again in the Armchair at the Park or at Win- 
nington ; enough for you to know that we all 
breakfasted with Sir Thomas Brisbane, a very 
superior man and a great astronomer, and tho' 
brave as a lion, seems to prefer looking at la Pleine 
lune in the heavens than the host of demi-lunes with 
which he is surrounded in his present quarters. At 
Cambray Sir George Scovell ^ had most kindly 
secured us lodgings at Sir Lowry Cole's ^ house, 

^ Sir George Scovell, 17 74-1861, General. He fought in the 
Peninsula and at Waterloo. 

'^ Sir Lowry Cole, second son of first Earl of Enniskillen, 
General of 4th Division at the Battle of Salamanca. He received 



280 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

which we had all to ourselves, as the General was 
in England. Where the French people live it is 
not easy to guess, for all the best houses are taken 
by British Officers. They receive a billet which 
entitles them to certain rooms, and generally they 
induce the possessor to decamp altogether by giving 
him a small rent for the remainder. We found 
Colonel Egerton, who married a Miss Tomkinson, 
in the garrison. We dined with them and the 
Scovell, and were received with the utmost 
kindness and attention by all. Colonel Prince and 
Colonel Abercromby (you know both, I believe) 
also dined there two days we remained. 

On Sunday there was a Procession. The 
most curious circumstance was that a troop of 
British cavalry attended to clear the way and do 
the honours, for the National Guard had been 
disarmed three days before in consequence of an 
order from the Duke of Wellington (nobody 
knows why). They gave up their arms without 
a murmur ; some few, I believe, expressed by a 
" Bah ! " and a shrug of the shoulders that it 
was not quite agreeable to their feelings, but 
"voila tout." "I say, Jack," said a Grenadier 
of the Guards to his Companion, by whom I 
was standing as the procession came out of the 
Church, " who is that fellow with a gold coat 
and gridiron?" "Why, that's St. Lawrence," 
and so it was. 

the thanks of both Houses of Parliament for his gallant services 
in the Peninsula. Commanded 6th Division at Waterloo. 



1816] AN ARAB LIFE 281 

St. Lawrence led the way, followed by a brass 
St. Andrew as stiff as a poker and as much 
resembling St. Andrew as I conceive ; but my 
companion the Grenadier thought differently, for 
he pronounced him to be a Chef d'oeuvre. " Well 
now, Jack, that's quite natural." ... 

I must hurry you on to Compiegne, merely 
saying that we traversed a country fringed with 
immense forests in which wolves are born and 
live and die without much interruption, tho' 
we were told at one of the Inns that a peasant 
had, a day or two before, captured seven juvenile 
individuals of the species and carried them off un- 
eaten by their disconsolate parents. 

Our chief reason for visiting Compiegne was that 
we might see a Palace fitted up for Marie Louise by 
Bonaparte in a style of splendour surpassing, in my 
opinion, any Palace I have seen in France. 

Mrs. E. Stanley to Lady Maria J. Stanley. 

Yhsi^^June 28, 1816. 
And here I am — and what shall I tell you first ? 
And how shall I find time to tell you anything in 
the wanderino" Arab kind of life we are leadinor ? 

o o 

It is very new and very amusing and I enjoy it 
very much, but I enjoy still more the thoughts of 
how much I shall enjoy my own quiet home and 
children again when I get to them. 

We arrived on Tuesday evening, and in half an 
hour I was in the Palais Royal in the Cafe de Mille 
Colonnes, and at night the brilliancy of the Lamps 



282 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

and Mirrors, jrlittering in every direction in every 
alley, displayed this new scene to me in the newest 
colours ; and it was very like walkino- in a new 
world, . . . 

The F^tes for the marriage of the Due de Berri 
are unfortunately all over. Except the entertain- 
ments at the Court itself, a French party is a thing 
unheard of, and the only gaieties have been English 
parties to which some few French come when they 
are invited. The only gentlemen's carriages I have 
seen in the streets are English, and as to French 
gentlemen or ladies, according to the most diligent 
enquiries by eyes and tongue, the race has almost 
disappeared. . . . 

If you admire Buonaparte ;uid despise the 
Bourbons in Cheshire, what would you in Paris ? 
where the regular answer to everything you admire 
is that it was done by Buonaparte — to everything 
that you object to, that it is by order of the 
Bourbons. In the Library of the Hopital des 
Invalides to-day, collected by order of Buonaparte 
for the use of the soldiers, there was a man pulling 
down all the books and stamping over the N's and 
eagles on the title-page with blue ink, which, if it 
did not make a plain L, at least blotted out the N ; 
but I should ap[)rehend that every one who saw the 
blot would think more of the vain endeavour of 
Louis to take his place than if the N had been 
left. 

... I have told you nothing about Valenciennes 
and how we breakfasted with two odd characters 



1816] COMPIEGNK 283 

to come together in one, an Astronomer and a 
Soldier, viz., Sir Thomas Brisbane, who enlivens 
his quarters wherever he goes by erecting an 
observatory immediately, and studying hard as any 
Cambridge mathematician every hour that he is 
not on military duty. His officers seem to have 
partaken in some degree of the spirit of their 
General, and to have made use of their position 
at Valenciennes to make themselves perfectly 
acquainted with all Marlborough's campaign, and 
they appeared to have as much interest in tracing 
all his sieges and breaches and batteries as their 
General in making his observations on the sun and 
the stars. . . . The Scovells were delighted to 
see us at Cambray ; put us into Sir Lowry 
Cole's quarters, where we had a house and gardens 
all to ourselves. Lord Wellington had been at 
Cambray a fortnight before, and was all affa- 
bility, good humour, and gaiety. . . . Sir Geo. 
Scovell gave many interesting details of his cool- 
ness, quickness, decision, and undaunted spirit. 

Edward Stanley to Bella Stanley, 

VA\w6,/uly 9, i8i6. 
It is absolutely necessary that a word or two 
should be said upon the palace at Compiegne, 
which was fitted up about seven years ago by 
Napoleon for Marie Louise. Having seen most of 
his Imperial abodes, I am inclined to give the 
preference, as far as internal decoration extends, to 



284 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

Compiegne. Gold, silver, mirrors, tapestry all 
hold their court here. The bath is a perfect 
specimen of French luxury and magnificence. It 
fills a recess in a moderately-sized room almost 
entirely panelled with the finest sheets of plate 
glass ; and the ball room is so exquisitely beautiful 
that to see its golden walls and ceilings lighted up 
with splendid chandeliers, and its floors graced with 
dancers, plumed and jewelled, I would take the 
trouble of attending as your Chaperon from Alder- 
ley whenever the Bourbons send you an invitation. 

The gardens are like all other French pleasure 
grounds, formal and comfortless, but there is one 
part you would all enjoy. When Buonaparte first 
carried Marie Louise to Compiegne she expressed 
much satisfaction, but remarked that it was deficient 
in a Berceau ; it could not stand in competition 
with her favourite palace of Schonbrunn. Now, a 
berceau is a wide walk covered with trellis work 
and flowers. She left Compiegne. In six weeks 
Napoleon begged her to pay another visit. She 
did so, and found a berceau wide enough for two 
carriao"es to p^o abreast and above two miles in 
length, extending from the gardens to the forest of 
Compiegne, completely finished. May you all be 
espoused to husbands who will execute all your 
whims and fancies with equal rapidity and good 
taste ! In your berceau I will walk ; but if you are 
destined to reside in golden palaces, you must expect 
little of Uncle's company. 

Having travelled thus far, attend us to Paris and 



1816] PARIS TRAGEDY 285 

imagine yourself seated in a velvet chair in the 
Hotel de Bretagne, Rue de Richelieu, that is to say, 
when translated into London terms, conceive your- 
self seated in one of the Hotels in or near Covent 
Gardens, close to Theatre and shops and all that a 
stranger wishes to be near for a week when the 
sole purpose of his visit is seeing and hearing. 
We are within 20 yards (but if measured by the 
mud and filth to be traversed in the march I should 
call it a mile) of the Palais Royal, the fairy land 
of Paris, and Paradise of vice, and the centre of 
attraction to every stranger. Here we breakfast in 
Coffee-houses, of which no idea can be formed by 
those who only associate the name of Coffee-house 
with certain subdivided, gloomy apartments in 
England, where steaks and Morning Chronicles 
reign with divided sway, and where the silence is 
seldom interrupted but by queries as to the price of 
stocks or " Here, Waiter, another bottle of Port." 

We dine at Restaurateurs, choosing unknown 
dishes out of five closely-printed columns oi frican- 
deaus and a la financihxs. 

Before I proceed let me inform you of some 
simple matters of fact which I may forget if delayed. 
Such as that we found the Sothebys and Murrays, 
and Leghs of High Legh, and Wilbraham of 
Delamere Lodge. With the former we have made 
several joint excursions and contrived to meet at 
dinner. Mr. Sotheby is in his element, bustles 
everywhere, looks the vignette of happiness, ex- 
claims " Good! " upon all occasions, from the arrange- 



286 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

ment of the Skulls in the Catacombs to the dressing 
of a vol au vent. In short, they are all as delighted 
as myself, and that is saying a good deal. 

Pardon this digression. Again to the point — to 
Paris. Where shall I begin ? Let us take the 
theatres. We saw Talma last night, and the im- 
pression is strong, therefore he shall appear first on 
the list. 

The play was " Manlius," a tragedy in many 
respects like our " Venice Preserved." The House 
was crowded to excess, especially the pit, which, as 
in England, is the focus of criticisms and vent for 
public opinion. 

When a Tragedy is acted no Music whatever is 
allowed, not a fiddle prefaced the performance ; but 
at seven o'clock the curtain slowly rose, and amidst 
the thunder of applause, succeeded by a breathless 
silence. Talma stepped forth in the Roman toga 
of Manlius. His figure is bad, short, and rather 
clumsy, his countenance deficient in dignity and 
natural expression, but with all these deductions he 
shines like a meteor when compared with Kemble. 
He is body and soul, finger and thumb, head and 
foot, involved in his character ; and so, say you, 
is Miss O'Neil, but Talma and Miss O'Neil are 
different and distant as the poles. She is nature, 
he is art, but it is the perfection of art, and so 
splendid a specimen well deserves the approbation 
he so profusely receives. 

The curtain is not let down between the acts, and 
the interval does not exceed two or three minutes. 



1816] AN AUDIENCE IN THRALDOM 287 

so that your attention is never interrupted. The 
scene closed as it commenced — with that peculiar 
hurra of the French, expressive of their highest 
excitement. It is the same with which they make 
their charge in battle, and proportioned to numbers 
it could not have been more vehement at the 
victories of Austerlitz and Jena than it was on 
the reappearance of Talma ; and not satisfied with 
this, they insisted on his coming forth again. At 
length, amidst hurras and cries of " Talma ! 
Talma ! " the curtain was closed up, and my last 
impression rendered unfavourable by a vulgar, 
graceless figure in nankeen breeches and top-boots 
hurrying in from a side scene, dropping a swing 
bow in the centre of the stage, and then hurrying 
out again. 

Theatres are to Frenchmen what flowers are to 
bees : they live in them and upon them, and the 
sacrifice of liberty appears to be a tribute most 
willingly paid for the gratification they receive ; for, 
to be sure, never can there exist a more despotic, 
arbitrary government than that of a French theatre. 
A soldier stands by from the moment you quit your 
carriage till you get into it ; you are allowed no will 
of your own ; if you wish to give directions to your 
servant, "Vite! Vite ! " cries a whiskered sentry. 
Are you looking through the windows of the lobbies 
into the boxes for your party, you are ordered off by 
a gendarme. I saw one gentlemanlike-looking man 
remonstrating; in a trice he was in durance vile. A 
Frenchman at his play must sit, stand, move, think, 



288 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

and speak as if he were on drill, and yet he endures 
the intolerance for doubtful benefits derived from 
this rigid regularity. 

In this play of " Manlius " were many passages 
highly applicable to Buonaparte, and Talma, who is 
supposed to be (avec raison) a secret partisan, gave 
them their full effect, but the listening vassals struck 
no octaves to his vibration. A few nights before 
we were at the Play in which were allusions to the 
Bourbons, and couplets without end of the most 
fulsome, disgusting compliments to the Due de Berri, 
&c. These (shame upon the trifling, vacillating, 
mutable crew ! ) were received with loud applause 
by the majority of the pit. I did observe, however, 
that in that pit did sit a frowning, solemn, silent 
nucleus, but a nucleus of this description can never 
be large ; a few Messieurs at 3 francs par jour 
would soon, when dispersed amongst them, like 
grains of pepper in tasteless soup, diffuse a tone of 
palatibility over the whole and render it more agree- 
able to the taste of a Bourbon. 

A propos, we have seen the Bourbons. The King 
is a round, fat man, so fat that in their pictures they 
dare not give him the proper ''contour" lest the 
police should suspect them of wishing to ridicule ; 
but his face is mild and benevolent, and I verily 
believe his face to be a just reflection of his heart. 
Then comes Monsieur, ' a man with more ex- 
pression, but I did not see enough to form any 
opinion of my own, and I never heard any very 
^ Comte d' Artois, afterwards King Charles X. 



1816] A ROYAL KITTEN 289 

decisive account from any one else. Then comes 
the Duchesse d'Angouleme.^ There is no milk 
and water there. What she really is I may not be 
able to detect, but I will forfeit my little finger if 
there is not something" passing strange within her. 
She is called a Bigot and a Devotee; she has seen 
and felt enough, and more than enough, to make a 
stronger mind than hers either the one or the other, 
and I will excuse her if she is both. She is thin and 
genteel, grave and dignified ; she puts her fan to 
her underlip as Napoleon would put his finger to his 
forehead, or his hand into his bosom. She stood up, 
she sat down, she knelt, when others stood or sat 
or knelt, but I question whether if she had been 
alone she would have done all according to bell and 
candle, rule or regulation. 

Then comes the Duchesse de Berri.^a young, pretty 
thing, a sort of royal kitten ; and then comes her 
husband, the Due de Berri, a short, vulgar-looking, 
anything but a kitten he is — but arrete toi. I am in 
the land of vigilance, and already my pen trembles, 
for there are gendarmes in abundance in the streets, 
and Messieurs Bruce and Co. in La Force, and I do 
not wish to join their party. In England I may 
abuse our Prince Regent and call him fat, dissipated, 
and extravagant, but in France I dare not say "BO 
to a goose!" So, Je vous salue, M. le Due de Berri. 

A prop OS of the police. At the marriage of the 
above much honoured and respected Due the illumi- 

^ Daughter of Louis XVI. 
2 Caroline of Naples. 
19 



290 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

nations were general. Murray's landlord was setting 
out his tallow candles, when Murray, guessing from 
certain innuendoes and shrugs (for before us English 
they are not much afraid of shrugging the shoulders 
or inventing an occasional "Bah ! ") that he wouldhave 
been to the full as pleased if he had been lighting 
his candles upon the return of Napoleon, asked him, 
" Mais pourquoi faites vous cela ? I suppose you 
may do as you like ? " " Comment done ! " replied 
the astonished Frenchman ; "do as I like ! If I did 
not light my candles with all diligence, I should be 
called upon to-morrow by the police to pay a forfeit 
for not rejoicing." 

With all this I think on the whole the Bourbons 
are popular ; people are accustomed to being bullied 
out of their opinions and use of their tongues, and 
they are so sick of war, with all its inconveniences 
and privations, that they begin to prefer inglorious 
repose. English money is very much approved of 
here, but if it could be procured without the per- 
sonal attendance of the owners, I feel quite 
confident the French would prefer it. 

We are not popular. I suppose the sight of us 
must be grating to the feelings. We are like a 
blight on an apple-tree ; we curl up their leaves, 
and they writhe under our pressure. 

The constant songr of our drunken soldiers on the 
Boulevards commenced with — 



" Louis Dixhuite, Louis dixhuite, 
We have licked all your armies and sunk all your fleet." 



1816] BALLS AND POWDER PLOTS 291 

Luckily the words are not intelligible to the gaping 
Parisians, who generally, upon hearing the " Louis 
Dixhuite," took for granted the song was an ode in 
honour of the Bourbons, and grinned approbation. 
It is quite ridiculous, Paris cannot know itself 
Where are the French ? Nowhere. All is Ensflish: 
English carriages fill the streets, no other genteel 
Equipages are to be seen. At the Play Boxes are 
all English. At the Hotels, Restaurations — in short, 
everywhere — John Bull stalks incorporate. I see an 
Englishman with his little red book, the Paris 
guide, in one hand and map in the other, with a 
parcel of ragged boys at his heels pestering him for 
money. " Monsieur, c'est moi " who am ready to 
hold your stick. " Monsieur, c'est moi," who will 
call your coach. 

About the Thuilleries, indeed, and here and there, 
a kw " bien poudred " little old men, " des bons 
Papas du Temps passe," may be seen dry as 
Mummies and as shrivelled, with their ribbons and 
Croix St. Louis, tottering about. They are good, 
staunch Bourbons, ready, I daresay, to take the 
field " en voiture " for once, when taunted by the 
Imperial officers for being too old and decrepid 
to lead troops ; an honest emigrant Marquis replied 
that he did not see why he should not command 
a regiment and lead it on " dans son Cabriolet." 

We have been unfortunate in not arrivinp" soon 
enough to be present at the Duke of Wellington's 
Balls. At the last a curious circumstance took 
place. (You may rely upon it's being true.) Word 



292 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

was brought to him that the house was in danger 
from fire. He went down, and in a sort of sub- 
terranean room some cartridges were discovered 
close to a lamp containing a great quantity of oil, 
and it was evident they had been placed there with 
design. The first report was that barrels of gun- 
powder had been found, and strange associations 
were whispered as to Guy Fawkes and Louis 
XVI I L being one and the same; but the powder 
was not sufficient to do any great mischief, and the 
general idea is that had it exploded, confusion 
would have ensued, the company would have been 
alarmed, the ladies would have screamed and 
fled to the door and street, where parties were 
in full readiness and expectations of Diamonds, 
&c. . . . 

We stay over Monday, for there is a grand 
Review on the Boulevards. We have seen 
Cuirassiers and Lancers shining in the sun and 
flutterino- their little banner in the air. The Bour- 
bons, who are determined to root out every vestige 
of the past, are now stripping the Troops of the 
Uniform which remind the wearers of battles fought 
and cities won, and re-clothing them in the white 
dress of the " ancien Regime," which is wretchedly 
ugly. They know best what they are about, and 
they certainly have a people to deal with unlike the 
rest of the world, but were I a Bourbon, I should 
be cautious how I proceeded in demolishing every- 
thing which reminded the people of their recent 
glory. Luckily the column on the Place Vendome 



1816] MICHAEL BRUCE 293 

has as yet escaped the Goths, and its bronze basso 
reliefs are still the pride of Paris. 

Edivard Stanley to Louisa Stanley. 

July 13, 1816. 

Days in Paris are like lumps of barley sugar, 
sweet to the taste and melting rapidly away. . . .We 
have now seen theatres, shows, gardens, museums, 
palaces, and prisons. Aye, Louisa, we have been 
immured within the walls of La Force, and that 
from inclination ! not necessity. 

We procured an order to see Bruce, ^ and after 
some shutdecock sort of work, sending and being 
sent from office to office and Pr^fet to Pr^fet, at 
length we received our order of admission. 

In this order our persons are described ; the man 
put me down " sourcils gris." " Mais, Monsieur," 
said I, " they will never admit me with that 
account." He looked at me again, " Ah ! vos 
cheveux sont gris, mais pour les sourcils, non pas, 
vous avez raison," and altering them to " noirs," he 
sent me about my business. 

Bar and bolt were opened, and at length we 
found ourselves in the presence of these popular 
prisoners — Popular, at least, amongst the female 
part of the world. I have reason to believe that 

^ Michael Bruce, one of the EngUshmen who helped Lavalette 
to escape from prison. He was known as Lavalette's Bruce. He 
had previously tried to save Ney. Major-General Wilson and 
Captain Hutchinson were also concerned in Lavalette's escape. 



294 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

a few of the Miss Stanleys had formed a romantic 
attachment for Michael Bruce, and there are few of 
our adventures which would, I think, have given 
you more pleasure than this visit. Your heart 
would have been torn from its little resting-place 
and been imprisoned for ever. Michael Bruce ! 
such an eye ! such a figure ! such a countenance ! 
such a voice ! and so much sense and elegance 
of manner, and then so interesting ! There he sat 
in a small, wretched room, dirty and felonious, with 
two little windows, one looking into a court where 
a parcel of ragged prisoners were playing at fives, 
the other into a sort of garden where others were 
loitering away their listless vacuity of time. 

I will not tell you what he said, for it would but 
inflame a wound which I cannot heal, and because 
part of his conversation was secret, i.e., of a very 
interesting and curious nature which I cannot write 
and must not speak of. " Oh ! dear Uncle, why 
won't you tell } a secret from Michael Bruce in the 
prison of La Force ! " 

No, Louisa, I dare not speak of it to the winds. 
Captain Hutchinson was his companion. Sir Robert 
Wilson is in another room. The Captain has 
nothing very interesting in his manner or appear- 
ance. He is very plain, very positive, and very 
angry. Well he may be. So would you if, like 
him, you had been immured in a room about eight 
feet by twelve, in which you were forced to eat, 
sleep, and reside for three months. Their penance 
closes on the 24th, when Michael Bruce returns 



1816] DE NON 295 

to London. I hope you are not going there 
this year. 

From such a subject as Michael Bruce it will not 
do to descend to any of the trifling fopperies of 
Paris. 

Let me, then, give you a short account of our 
visit to Fountain Elephant, which if ever finished, 
with its concomitant streets, &c., will be an 8th 
wonder of the world. Its History is this : On the 
Site of the Bastille (of which not a vestige remains) 
Buonaparte thought he would erect a fountain, and 
looking at the Plans of Paris, he conceived the 
splendid idea of knocking down all the houses 
between the Thuilleries and this Fountain and 
forming one wide, straight street, so that from the 
Palace of the Thuilleries he might see whatever 
object he might be pleased to place at the ex- 
tremity. This street is actually begun ; when 
executed, which it never will be, there will be an 
avenue, partly houses, partly trees, from Barriere 
d'Etoile to the Fountain, at least six miles. Having 
got this Fountain in his head, he sent for De Non,^ 
who superintended all his works, and said, ** De 
Non, I must have a fountain, and the fountain shall 
be a beast." So De Non set his wits to work, and 
talked of Lions and Tigers, &c., when Buonaparte 

^ Denon (i 747-1825), a member of the Academie de Peinture. 
He made sketches in Egypt for Napoleon, quietly finishing them 
on the battlefield. He directed the Emperor what objects of 
art he should take from various countries to enrich the Louvre. 
Napoleon made him Directeur-General of Museums. 



296 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

fixed upon an Elephant, with a Castle upon his 
back, and an Elephant there is. At present they 
have merely a model of plaister upon which the 
bronze coating is to be wrought, for the whole is 
to be in bronze with gilt trappings. He is to stand 
upon an elevated pedestal, which is already com- 
pleted. The height will be about 60 feet, nearly as 
high as Alderley Steeple. The castle will hold 
water ; the inside is to be a room, and the staircase 
is to be in one of the legs. The porter who showed 
it was exceedingly proud of the performance, and 
when I expressed my astonishment at Buonaparte's 
numerous plans and the difficulty he must have 
been at to procure money, looking cautiously about 
him, he said, "Oh, mais il avoit le don d'un Dieu," 
and then grasping my arm with one hand and 
tapping me on the shoulder with the other, and 
again looking round to see if then the coast was 
clear, he added, " Mais il n'y est plus, ah, vous 
comprenez cela n'est-ce pas," and then casting a look 
at his Elephant he concluded with a sigh and a 
mutter, " Superbe, ah, pardi, que c'est superbe ! " 
Kitty has been dressing herself a la Frangaise, 
and we have been purchasing a large box of flowers, 
which we hope to show you in England, if the 
Custom House officers will allow us to pay the 
duties, but we hear most alarming accounts of their 
ferocity and rapacity. They will soon, it is said, 
seize the very clothes you have on, if of French 
manufacture ; if so, adieu to three pairs of black 
silk stockings and as many pockethandkerchiefs, to 



1816] DUMB SCHOLARS 297 

say nothing of a perfect pet of an ivory dog which 
I intend to present to your Mama, and to say 
nothing of five perfect pets for Maria and you four 
eldest girls of the family of Harlequin and Punch, 
to be worn on your necklaces during the happy 
weeks. They are of mother of pearl about an inch 
high, the most comical fellows I ever beheld. It 
is necessary that I should tell you of the presents, 
because if they are seized, you know I shall still 
be entitled to the merit of selecting them. We 
have bought a few books. A thick octavo is here 
worth about four or five shillings, and the duty is, 
we understand, about one shilling more. One is 
a life of the Duke of Marlborough. Buonaparte 
said it was a reflection upon England not to have 
a life of her greatest Hero, and therefore he would 
be his biographer ; accordingly he set his men to 
work and collected the materials. Report speaks 
favourably of it, but I have been so busied in look- 
ing and walking about that 1 shall not be surprised 
if I find that I have almost forgotten to read upon 
my return ! 

Edward Stanley to Louisa Stanley. 

Tuesday Morning, July \ith. 
We are in Paris still, and do not depart till 
to-morrow, dedicating this day in company with the 
Murrays to St. Denis and Malmaison, and then I 
think we shall have seen everything worth seeing 
in or near this queer metropolis. One day last week 



298 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

we went to our old friend, L'abbe Sicard,^ and 
attended a lecture in which about 20 of his young 
scholars exhibited their powers. The poor Abbe 
was, as usual, dreadfully prolix, and occupied an 
hour in words which miorht have been condensed 
within the compass of a Minute, and poor Massuer 
yawned and shut his eyes ever and anon. Clair 
was not there, and as we were under the necessity 
of going away before the Lecture was closed, we 
could not renew our acquaintance. Since last year 
he has taught his pupils to speak, and two dumb 
boys talked to each other with great success. I 
will show you the mode when we meet, but as you 
are not dumb it will be a mere gratification of 
Curiosity. Our Assignation which called us from 
the Lecture was to meet the Sothebys and 
Murrays and many others at the Buvin d'Enfer, 
near which is the descent to the Catacombs, where 
upwards of 3 million of Skulls are arranged in tasty 
grimaces thro' Streets of Bones, but my Sketch 
Book has long given an idea of these ossifatory 
Exhibitions. Only think, a cousin of Donald's and 
a very great friend of mine, a Capt. McDonald, 
whom you would all be in love with, he is so hand- 
some and interesting, was shut up there a short 
time ago by accident, and if the Keeper had not 
luckily recollected the number of persons who 
descended and discovered one was missing, he 
would very soon have joined the bone party. 

^ Abb^ Roch Ambroise Sicard, founder of deaf and dumb 
school at Paris, 1742-1822. 



1816] PERE LA CHAISE 299 

There is another Cimetiere called that of Pere la 
Chaise, of a very different description, and infinitely 
more interesting. It is the grand burial-place of 
Paris ; all who choose may purchase little plots of 
ground, from a square foot to an acre, for the 
deposition of themselves and their families. Its 
extent is about 84 French acres, and upon no spot 
in the world is the French character so perfectly 
portrayed. Each individual encloses his plot and 
ornaments it as he chooses, and the variety is quite 
astonishing. It appears like a large Shop full of 
toys, work-baskets, Columns, little Cottages, pyra- 
mids, mounts — in short, what is there in the form 
of a Monument which may not there be found ? A 
pert little Column with a fanciful top, crowned by 
a smart wire basket filled with roses, marked the 
grave, I concluded, of some beautiful young girl 
of 15 or 16. Lo and behold ! it was placed there 
to commemorate " un ancien Magistrat de France," 
aged 62. The most interesting are Ney's and Labe- 
doyere's,! the former, a solid tomb of marble, simply 
tells that Marshal Ney, Prince of La Moskowa, 
is below. Both were rather profusely decorated 
with wreaths of flowers, it being the custom for the 
friends of the deceased to strew from time to time the 
graves with flowers, or decorate them with garlands. 
Soldiers have been often seen weeping over these 
graves, and it is by them these wreaths were placed. 
Ney's had just received its tribute of a beautiful 
garland of blue cornflowers : and the other a 
^ Labedoyere, General (1786-1815). Shot at Crenelle, 1815. 



300 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

Chaplet of Honeysuckle. By both graves were 
weeping willows. Mr. Sotheby's friend, the poet 
Delille,^ sleeps beneath a cumbrous mass of marble, 
within which his wife immerses herself once a week, 
to manifest sorrow for one whose incessant tor- 
mentor I am told she was during his life. The 
inscriptions were for the most part commonplace. 
I copied out a few of the best. I was sorry to 
observe not one in 20 had the slightest allusion 
to Religion. There was one offering which par- 
ticularly attracted my attention and admiration. 
Over a simple mound, the resting-place of a little 
child, were scattered white flowers, and amongst 
them a bunch of cherries, evidently the tribute from 
some other little child who had thus offered up that 
which to him appeared most valuable. The ex- 
clusion of the selfish principle in this display of 
sentiment and feeling quite delighted me. 

The day after we visited the Louvre it was 
closed, and none have been admitted since. I 
believe they are scratching out some N's or Eagles. 
I should conceive these to be the last of their 
species, for the activity and extent of this efface- 
ment of emblems related to Napoleon is past all 
belief. In a picture of Boulogne in the Luxem- 
burg, amongst the figures in the foreground was 
a little Buonaparte, about two inches high, review- 
ing some troops. They have actually changed his 
features and figure, and, if I recollect rightly, 
altered his cockade and Uniform. ... In the 
^ French poet and Academician, 1738-1813. 



1816] HAIRDRESSER'S NOTICE 301 

Musee des Arts and Metiers are some models 
of ships ; even these were obliged to strike their 
Lilliputian tri-colours and hoist the white Ensign. 
And now Paris, fare thee well. . . . Thou art a 
mixture of strange ingredients. " Oh," said the 
Hairdresser who was cutting Kitty's hair yesterday, 
"had we your National spirit we should be a great 
people, mais c'est I'Egoisme qui regne a Paris." 
Their manner is quite fascinating, so civil, so 
polished. The people are like the Town, and the 
Town is like a Frenchman's Chemise, a magnificent 
frill with fine lace and Embroidery, but the rest 
ragged. The frill of the Thuilleries and Champs 
Elysees are perfect fairylands, the streets all that 
is execrable. No wonder the cleaners of boots and 
shoes are in a state of perpetual requisition. In 
one shop I saw elevated benches, on which sat 
many gentry with their feet upon a level with the 
cleaners' noses, where they sat like Statues, and 
I was actually induced to go back to satisfy myself 
that they were real men. English notices are fre- 
quent in the streets, some not over correct in style ; 
for example, over a Hairdresser's in the Palais 
Royal — "The Cabinet for the cut of the hairs." 

J/r^. £. Stanley to Lady Maria J. Stanley. 

St. Germain, July i6, 1816. 
Surely you must have forgot what it is to be 
divided by land and sea from what you love, or 
when you were abroad you left nobody behind 



3(>2 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

whom you cared about, or you would not fancy 
that I should not find time or inclination to read 
as many trifles as you can find to send, or that 
they should not give me almost as much pleasure, 
and be read with as much interest, as if I were 
shut up in the next dungeon to Mr. Bruce at La 
Force. . . . While you were enjoying the view of 
Beeston Castle, we were eating strawberries and 
cream under the trees in the Jardin des Plantes on 
the only hot day we have had. ... I am in no 
danger of forgetting you, and if I have not written 
oftener, it has only been because Edward got the 
start of me in beginning to write in detail, and he is 
so inimitable in description that I could not go over 
the same ground with him. ... I do wish I could 
give you one of our day's amusement, and jump 
you over here in mind and body to leave all your 
cares behind you. . . . 

At last we have bid goodbye to Paris, but every 
day seemed to bring something fresh to see, and we 
stayed two or three days longer than we intended 
yesterday to see St. Denis. It is not so fine as 
most of the churches we saw in Holland, but the 
historical interest is so great and so curious that 
I would not have missed seeinsf it for the world. 
Over the door all the guillotined figures of the 
Revolution ; in the church the repairs which were 
begun by Buonaparte, now finishing by Louis ; 
every stone and step you go marked by some 
association of one or other of these periods. As 
Buonaparte's own power increased, his respect for 



1816] THREE GOLDEN KEYS 303 

crowned heads and authorities increased, I suppose, 
and so he had put up Fleurs de Lys himself for the 
Bourbons in one part of the church, and he had 
prepared a vault for himself, decorated above with 
bees and statues of the six Kings of France who 
had the title of Emperor. To this vault he had 
made two bronze doors with gold ornaments and 
gold lions' heads, one of which flew back with a 
spring, and discovered three keyholes, to which 
there were three golden keys. The Sacristy he 
filled with chef d'ceuvres of the best French artists, 
representing those parts of the History of France 
connected with St. Denis and with his own views 
of Empire, 

The beautiful white marble steps leading to the 
altar beneath which the seventh Emperor was to 
be laid were just finished when Louis XVI I L came 
to fill the tomb, which was just prepared, with the 
bones of Louis XVL, to depose the Emperor, to 
complete the marble pavement, and to extend the 
Heurs de lys over the whole church. 

And upon the stone which now conceals the 
entrance to the vault the Duchesse d'Anofouleme 
always kneels at the grave of her father, for the 
fine bronze doors are deposed also, only, I believe, 
because they were placed there by Buonaparte, and 
now they have to get into the Vault by taking up 
the stone. We got into the carriage full of Buona- 
parte, returned to Paris, and then got out again 
with the Murrays at Malmaison. It is the only 
enviable French house I have seen and deserves 



304 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

everything Edward said about it, even without the 
statues and half the pictures which are taken away. 
We spent three or four hours in the Thuilleries 
Gardens on Sunday. Buonaparte must have thought 
of gilding the dome of the Invalides when he was 
walking in the Jardin des Thuilleries, it suits the 
whole thing so exactly. A French crowd is so 
gay with the women's shawls and flowers that they 
assimilate well with the real flowers, and are almost 
as great an ornament to the Garden. A shower 
came on just as we were standing near the Palace, 
and at that moment the guards took their posts as a 
signal the King was going to Mass, so Edward and 
I followed the crowd to the Salle des Marechaux 
(they would not admit Donald because he had 
gaiters, and Edward had luckily trowsers), and 
there we saw Louis XVIII. and the Duchesse 
d'Angouleme and Monsieur much better than we 
had done the Sunday before, with all the trouble 
of getting a ticket for admission into the Chapel, 
and being squeezed to death into the bargain. His 
Majesty is more like a Turtle than anything else, 
and shows external evidence of his o-reat affection 
for Turtle soup. His walk is quite curious. One 
of his most intimate friends says that in spite of his 
devotion Le Roi est un peu philosophe. We staid 
on Monday to see a review. Donald introduced 
us to a Mr. and Mrs. Boyd, who have lived in 
France the last 14 years, and have a terrace that 
overlooks the Boulevards, so there we sat very 
commodiously and saw the King and the Duchesses 



1816] ADIEU, PARIS! 305 

de Berri and Angouleme, in an open Caleche, 
pass through the double row of troops which 
Hned the Boulevards from one end to the 
other, and a beautiful sight it was. Mr. Boyd 
invited me to a party at his house in the coun- 
try, and in the hopes of seeing that vara avis, 
a French lady or gentleman, I said yes. So I 
sent for a hairdresser, who came post haste, and 
amused me with his politesse, and Edward with 
his politique. I was quite sorry I could not have 
him again. 

We dined with the Murrays, and then went on to 
Mr. Boyd, where I found myself the only lady there 
dressed amongst about forty. That is to say, their 
heads and tails were all in morning costume and 
mine in evening. . . . 

I must go back one more day, and tell you how I 
went to be described for a passport to La Force on 
Saturday, and how I thought Mr. Bruce more of a 
hero young man than any I have ever seen. I 
recollect seeino- him before, and thinking- him a 
coxcomb, but a few years have mellowed all that 
into a very fine young man. 

Making every allowance for seeing him in his 
dungeon in La Force, I think you would be 
delighted with his countenance. He spoke his 
sentiments with manly freedom, and yet with the 
liberality of one who thinks it possible a man may 
differ from him without being a fool, or a rascal. 
Lucy and Louisa would certainly have fallen in 
love with his fine Roman head, which his prison 

20 



306 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 

costume of a great coat and no neckcloth showed 
to great advantage. 

And now, adieu Paris ! At 2 o'clock on Wednes- 
day a green coach, which none of you could see 
without ten minutes' laughing at least — three horses 
and a postillion ! (what would I give just to drive 
up to Winnington with the whole equipage !) — 
carried us to Versailles, and there I longed for 
Louis XIV. as much as for Buonaparte at St. 
Cloud ; for one cannot fancy any one living in 
those rooms or walking in those gardens without 
hoops and Henri quatre plumes. If one could but 
people them properly for a couple of hours, what 
a delightful recollection it would be ! Versailles 
ought to be seen last. It is so magnificent that 
every other thing of the sort is quite lost in the 
comparison. I am glad I saw Paris and the 
Tuilleries and St. Cloud first. We saw the Palace, 
and then we dined, and then we set out for the 
Trianon, and then we met with a guide who enter- 
tained us so much as to put Louis XIV. and all his 
court out of my head. Buonaparte never went to 
Versailles but once to look at it, but at the Trianon 
he and Josephine lived, and it is impossible, in 
seeing those places, not to feel the principal interest 
to be in the inquiry — where he lived ? where he sat ? 
where he walked ? where he slept ? — so accordingly 
we asked our guide. " Monsieur, je ne connais 
point ce coquin la" soon told us what we were 
to expect from him, but his silence and his loyalty, 
and the combat between his hatred of the English 



1816] EAGLES VERSUS ANGELS 307 

and his hatred of Buonaparte was so amusing that 
we soon forgave him for not telHng us anything 
about him. He said " Bony " was only " fit to be 
hanged." " Why did you not hang him, then ? " 
He could only shrug his shoulders. "We should 
have hung him for you if he had come to England." 
" Ma foi ! Monsieur, je crois que non." He told us 
the stories of the rooms and the pictures with all 
the vivacity and rapidity of a Frenchman, and with 
pretty little turns of wit. . . . Donald asked him if 
a cabinet in one of the rooms had not been given 
by the Empress of Russia to Buonaparte .f* He 
instantly seized him by the button with an air of 
triumph. " Tenez, Monsieur, quand I'Empereur de 
Russie etait ici, il a vu ce Cabinet et a dit ; otez 
cette Volaille la " (pointing to the compartment in 
which the Imperial Eagles had been changed into 
Angels). "Je I'ai donne aux Fran9ais, et lui — il 
n etait pas Fran9ais." 

In all the royal house the servants are equally 
impenetrable on the subject of Buonaparte. But 
sometimes it seems put on, sometimes they really 
do not know from having been only lately put 
there, but this man was a genuine Bourbonist and 
a genuine Frenchman. 

We just got to St. Germain in time to walk on 
the Terrace before evening closed in over the 
beautiful view. The Palace and the Town put 
me quite in mind of the deserted court in the 
" Arabian Nights." ... 



308 BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 



Edward Stanley to his Nieces. Tuesday morning. 

I could fill another letter with the interesting 
things we saw yesterday at St. Denis and Mal- 
maison, but we are off in an hour, and it is possible 
you may hear no more from these 

Happy Travellers. 




ALDERLEY RECTORY. 



Index 



Abbeville, Louis XVIII. at, 244 
Abercromby, Colonel, 280 
Aisne, river, 145-161 
Aix la Chapelle, 146, 183, 191, 194, 

205 
Albania, ship at Antwerp, 203 
Albinus, German anatomist, 232 
Alderley, 10, 12, 15, 16, 17-21, 24, 

68, 74> 75> 96, 120, 236, 249, 283, 

296 
Alderley Church, 102 
Alderley Edge, 16 
Alderley Park, 14 
Alderley Rectory, 15-17 
Alessandria, Plain of Marengo, 49 
Alexander I., Emperor of Russia, 

76, 82-85, 93. 133, i77> 178, 222, 

229, 237, 244, 245 
Algeciras Bay, 53 
Alhama, Spain, 58, 63 
Alhambra, The, 59, 61, 63, 64 
Alien Office, The, 82 
Alkmaar, 205 
"Allemagne," By Madame de 

Stael, 128 
Allied Sovereigns, 82, 95, 152 
Allies, 105, 115, 116, 126, 156, 

160-162, 168, 196, 197, 236, 237, 

242 



Alps, 57 

Ambassador, English, Sir Charles 

Stuart, 112 
Ambassador, Swedish, M. de Stael, 

132 
Ambolle, Baron d', at Fontaine- 

bleau, 153 
Ambuscade, picture of capture of 

the frigate, 136 
Amiens, Peace of, 25, 73 
Amsterdam, 211, 222-224, 226 
Andernach on the Rhine, 187 
Angerstein Collection, 113 
Anglesey Society, 10 
Anglesey, Lord, his leg buried at 

Waterloo, 261 
Angouleme, Duchesse d', 289 
Antiquiera, Spain, 60, 64 
Antwerp, 199, 204, 206, 208, 209, 

210, 233, 253 
Antwerp Gate, Bergen op Zoom, 

214, 217 
Apreece, Mrs., afterwards Lady 

Davey, 81 
Argonauia, Spanish vessel, 51, 53, 

56 
Ashbourne, 248 
Augereau, General, 238 
AusterUtz, 138, 269, 287 



309 



310 



BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 



Austria, 179, 181 

Austria, Emperor of, 135, 237 

Bacharach on the Rhine, 172 
184, 185 

Banks, Sir Joseph, 93 

Barcelona, 50, 52, 54, 55, 60, 69, 70 

Barclay de Tolly, 1 16 

Baring, Major, 268 

Barthelemy, 237 

Bastille, 295 

Batavia, 193 

Beauharnais, Eugene, Viceroy of 
Italy, 132, 134 

Bees, Napoleon's, 150 

Beeston Castle, 301 

Belleville, 115, 116, 117 

Belluno, Due de, see Victor 

Benedictines, head cook to con- 
vent of, 41 

Beresford, Viscount, Marshal, 74 

Bergen op Zoom, 199, 208-212 

Berghem, Dutch painter (1624- 
1683), 201 

Berri, Due de, 139, 140, 152, 282, 
289 

Berri, Duchesse de, 289, 305 

Berry au Bac, 145, 163, 164 

Berthier, Marshal, Prince de 
Wagram, 138, 149 

Bertrand, General, 269 

Bessborough, Earl of, 86 

Bessieres, Marshal, Due d' Istria, 

137 
Beveland, South, 210 
Bidwell, 122 

Bingen on the Rhine, 183 
" Birds, Familiar History of," by 

Bishop Stanley, 17 
Bittern, H.M.S., 67 
Blucher, 85, 86, 88, 89, 93, 145, 

263 
Boher, French sculptor (d. 1825), 



Bois de Boulogne, 177 

Bolero, Spanish dance, 60 

Bonn, music on the Rhine, 188 

Boodle's Club, 33 

Borneo Mission, 23 

Borodino, 177 

Boulogne, 107-252 

Bourbons, The, 78, 107, 237, 284, 

288-292 
Boyd, Mr, and Mrs., 304 
Brabant, 181 
Breda, 209, 217, 218, 226 
Brisbane, Sir Thomas, at Valen- 
ciennes, 279, 283 
Brise-Maison, General, see Maison 
British character, 195 
British soldiers, 166 
Britomart, H.M.S., 18 . . 

Brock, Holland, 227 
Brooke, Sir James, English 

traveller. Rajah of Sarawack 

(1803-1868), 23 
Bruce, Michael, the Englishman 

who helped Lavalette to escape, 

293> 294 
Bruges, 247, 258, 260, 273 
Brussels, 193, 195, 197, 199, 200, 

208, 209, 233, 264, 269, 274, 277 
Buiksloot, North Holland, 226 
Biilow, Marshal, 145 
Buonaparte, Napoleon, Emperor, 

34, 35, 37, 40, 46, 47, 5°, 74, 9°, 

99, 100, 118, 120, 121, 130, 138- 
140, 148, 152-154, 162, 175, 180, 
238, 241, 244, 266, 271, 275, 281, 
282, 288, 295, 296, 300, 302, 303, 
304, 306-307 

Buonaparte family, 237 

Buonaparte, Louis, King of Hol- 
land, 225 

Buonaparte, Lucien, 83 

Burgundy, 46 

" Bustle's Banquet," by Rev. E. 
Stanley, 17 



INDEX 



311 



Buttereax, plains of, Lyons, 43 
" Butterfly's Ball," by Sir H. Ros- 

coe, 17 
Buvin d' Enfer, 298 
Byng's Brigade, 263 
Byron, Lord, 79 

Cadiz, 53, 61, 68 

Cafe des Mille Colonnes, Paris, 

142, 281 
Calick, Russia, 174 
" Calif e Voleur, Le" Ballet, 88 
Cambray, 247, 279, 283 
Cambridge, 11, 12, 25, 40, 50, 81, 

247, 248, 250 
Campo Formio, Treaty of (1797), 

243 
Cannes, 242 
Canova, 132 
Canterbury, 249 
Cardinals at Fontainebleau, 152 
Carleton, Mr., 251 
Carlton House, 83 
Carnival of Venice, 240 
Caroline of Naples, 289 
Carousel, Place de, 37, 136, 139 
Castlereagh, Lord, 87 
Catacombs, Paris, 143, 286, 298 
Catalonia, 56 
Catherine, Grand- Duchess of 

Russia, see Oldenburg 
Chalons, 41-43, 146, 156, 168 
Chamber of Representatives, 130 
Chambord, Comte de, 139 
Champagne, 41, 46 
Champlain, Lake, 238 
Champs Elysees, 119, 139, 301 
Charenton, near Paris, 116 
Charlemont, Anne, Lady, daughter 

and heiress of William Berming- 

ham, of Ross Hill, co. Gal way 

(d. 1876), aged 95, 132 
Charleroi, 276 
Charles IV., King of Spain, 64, 70 



Chateau Thierry, 145, 157 
Chatham, Earl of, 203 
Chatillon, 41 

Chavignon, near Laon, 161 
Chichester, Thomas, 2nd Earl of 

244 
" Childe Harold," 80 
Cholmondeley, Miss, 82 
Churchill, Major, 95 
Clancarty, Lord, Ambassador, 82. 

233 
Clarke, Marshal, Due de Feltre, 

243 
Clinton, Lady Louisa, daughter of 

Lord Sheffield, 76, 251 
Clinton, General Sir Henry, 75 
Clinton, General Sir William, 

married Lady Louisa Holroyd, 

75 

Coblentz, 186 

Cole, Sir Lowry, 279, 283 

Cologne, 172, 186, 190 

Colonne, Vendome, no 

Combermere, Lord, 96 

Compiegne, 281, 283, 284 

" Comte de Cely," 78 

Conclave of St. Peter at Fontaine- 
bleau, 152 

Congress of Vienna, 235 

Constant, Napoleon's valet, 152 

Constantine, Grand Duke, 178 

Constantine, Grand Duchess, 240 

Consul, The First, 26, 37, 73 

Cooke, Major-General, 210, 211, 
214 

Coote, Sir Evelyn, 259 

Corbeny, France, 163, 164 

" Corinne," by Mdme. de Stael, 79 

Cork, Lady, 86 

Cornegliano, Due de, see Moncey 

Coronation, The, 165 

Corps Legislatif, 129, 135 

Corte, La, 260 

Cotton trade, Rouen,28 



312 



BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 



Court dress necessary, 69 

Court etiquette, Buonaparte's ten- 
acity as to, 37 

Court Martial, Gibraltar, in 1802 
66 

Craon or Craonne, 145, 156, 163 

Craufurd, Donald, of Auchinanes, 
85, 246, 265, 276 

Croix, St. Louis, 291 

Cross, Mr. John, 98, 99 

Crosses, roadside, in Spain, signs 
of murders committed, 59 

Curtis, Sir William, 88 

Cutts Inn, Wilmslow, hamlet 
near Alderley, 162 

Dalmatie, Due de, see Soult 
D'Angely, see Regnaud 
Dantzig, Due de, see Lefebre 
Davenport, E. D., of Capesthorne, 

163 
Davoust, Marshal, Prince d' Eck- 

miihl, 137 
Davy, Lady, 79, 81 
Davy, Sir Humphrey, 79, 81 
De Lille, poet, 300 
Dendrich, boundary France and 

Austria, 179 
Denia, Spain, 71 
De Non, French artist under 

Napoleon, 295, 296 
Desaix, General, killed at Marengo 

(1800), 50 
Dijon, 41 
"Dinner of the Dogs," or 

" Bustle's Banquet," 17 
Directory, The, 50 
Doge of Genoa, 50 
Douglas, Hon. Frederick, inter- 
view with Napoleon, 240, 241 
Dover, 187 

Dow, Gerard, Dutch painter, 38 
Dragoons at Rouen (1802), 30 
Dresden, Battle of (1813), 76 



Duels between Russian and 

French officers, 107 
Du Mare, French professor, 124 
Dumeril, Andre, French physician, 

124 
Dumolard, French politician, 130 
Du Pont, General, 139 
Dutch ark, 202 
Dutch carving, 205 
Dutch cleanliness, 227, 231 
Dutch family, 253 
Dutch guide, 230 
Dutch impenetrability, 224 
Dutch road, 209 
Dutch table d'hote, 226 
Dykes, marvellous, 228, 229 

Eagle and Child, inn at Alderley, 
272 

Eagles, Napoleon's, no, 147, 150, 
269, 282, 300, 307 

Eckmiihl, Prince d', see Davoust 

Ecole Polytechnique, 116, 175 

Edridge, H., painter, 139 

Egerton, Colonel, 280 

Egerton, Mr., 87 

Egypt, 42 

Ehrenbreitstein, 187 

Ehrenfels, Castle of, 184 

Elba, 46, 75, 159 

Elephant, fountain, 295-296 

Embden, 31 

Emigrants, French, 18 

Emperor's abdication, 75 

Emperor Alexander, see Alexander 

Emperor of Austria, 135 

Emperor Napoleon, see Buona- 
parte 

Empress Josephine, see Josephine 

Empress Maria Louisa, see Maria 
Louisa 

Empress of Russia, 307 

Enghien, Due d', 134, 245 

Entomologist, 185 



INDEX 



313 



Entomology, 17, 124 
Ephemera, 186 
Etruria, King of, 50, 52 
Eugene Beauharnais, see Beauhar- 

nais 
Executions, 43, 44 
Ex-Imperial Guard, 148 

Fagant, Mr., 46 

Fandangos, 60 

Fanshawe, Catherine, 77, 78 

Felix Meritus, Dutch museum, 225 

Feltre, Duke of, see Clarke 

Ferdinand VII., King of Spain, 

239 
Ferreant, Place de, Lyons, 43 
Flanders, 74 
Fleurs de Lys, 303 
Flushing, 210 
Foljambe, Mr., 249 
Fontainebleau, 145-146, 149, 152 
For bach, 179 

Forbes, Lady Elizabeth, 240 
Fountain Elephant, 295-296 
Frascati, 33, 34, 39 
French emigrants, 18 
Fribourg, 170 
" Fugio ut Fulgor," 103 

Garde Imperiale, 107 

Gardes d'Honneur, 148 

Garrison of Gibraltar, 66, 67, 70 

Gazettes, 105 

Genappes, 270 

Generalife at Granada, 59 

Geneva, 35, 40, 43, 46-47, 49, 55 

Genoa, 47, 50 

George Street, 90 

Ghent, 274-275 

Gibbon, 15 

Gibraltar, 25, 55, 57, 60, 61, 65, 71 

Glenbervie, Lord and Lady, 236, 

240 
Goat curricles, 2 22 



Goat gigs, 233 

Godoy, Emanuel, Prince of Peace, 

64,70 
Gore, General, 211 
Gorum, 220-222 
Goths, 293 

Graham, Sir Thomas, 207, 213 
Granada, 57, 59, 60, 62, 66 
Grand Tour, 25 

Gronow, Memoirs of Captain, 107 
Grosvenor Place, 39 
Grosvenor, Lord, 113 
Guarda Costas, 68 
Guido, painter, 38 
Guignes, 145, 153, 154 
Guillotine, The, 43 

Haarlem, 230, 231 

Hague, The, 112, 233 

Hannibal, The ship, 53 

Hardwicke, Earl of, 112 

Hare, Rev. Augustus, 16 

Hare, Mrs. Augustus, Maria Ley- 
cester, 16 

Hare, Augustus J. C, 16 

Harlequin and Punch, 297 

Harris, Captain, 74 

Haslar Hospital, 98 

Haiiy, mineralogist, 124 

Havre, 94, 96, 99, 100, 103, 105 

Haye, Sainte, La, 268 

Hazard, Rue du, Paris, 109, 143 

Heber, Reginald, Bishop of Cal- 
cutta (1783-1826), 16, 90 

Hodnet, 16 

Holland, 76, 159, 200, 226, 302 

Holland, Dr., 86 

Holroyd, Lady Maria Josepha, 
see also Stanley, 14 

Holyhead Harbour, 255 

Holyhead Island, 10, 17 

Holywell, Alderley, 16 

Hookham's, 93 

Hopital de la Charite, 45 



314 



BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 



Hopital des Invalides, 282 
Hermitage, Forest of Fontaine- 

bleau, 147 
Hibberts, the, 132, 168 
Highlake, Hoylake, Cheshire, 55, 

69 
Hill, Rowland, General Lord Hill, 

95.96 
Hobart Town, Tasmania, 18 
Hobbema, Dutch painter (d. 1699), 

201 
Hodgson, Dean of Carlisle, 128 
Hotel de Boston, Paris, 35 
Hotel des Etrangers, Paris, 143 
Hotel du Pare, Lyons, 43 
Hotel in the Wood, Haarlem, 

230 
Hougoumont, 263, 265, 266, 267 
Hulot, General, 76 
Hundred Days, The, 244 
Hussey, Edward,of Scotney Castle, 

25, 26, 32, 41, 71 
Hutchinson, Captain, 293, 294 
Huxley, Professor, 18 
Hyeres, 48 

Icelandic Expedition, made by 
Sir John Stanley, 7th Bart. (1788), 

56 

" Ida of Athens," story written by 
Lady Morgan at Penrhos, Holy- 
head. Her study "Attica" so 
called to present day, 232 

Imperial Chasseurs, 107 

India House illumination (1814), 
84 

Infanta of Spain, Queen of Etruria, 

52 
Invalides, Hotel des, 49, 115, 282 
Istria, Due d', see Bessieres 

La Belle Alliance, 263, 267 
Labedoyere, General, 299 
Laeken, Palace of, 275 



Lady Penrhyn's cottages, allusion 
to the model village of Llan- 
degai in Wales, 227 

Lafayette, General, Marquis de, 
126 

La Haye, Sainte, 268 

Laird, English Consul, Malaga, 58 

Lamb, Lady Caroline, 86 

Lansdowne, Lord, 78 

Laon, 145, 146 156, 161-163 

" La Reyna Louisa," 54 

Lavalette, General, 293 

Le Brun, 38 

Lefebre, Marshal, Due de Dantzig, 
138 

Leghs, The, of High Legh, 285 

Leghorn, 50-52 

Leighton, Sir Baldwin, Bart., of 
Loton, 68 

Leipzic, Battle of, 170, 177 

Leith, The ^ohn ofLeith 

Leith, the Emperor sails from, 56 

L'Ettorel, Professor, 124 

Levanter, east wind, Mediter- 
ranean, 71 

Leycester, Edward Penrhyn, 
brother of Mrs. E. Stanley, 76, 
81,95,246,247,252 

Leycester, Hugh, uncle of Mrs. 
Edward Stanley, 32 

Leycester, Kitty, see Mrs. E. 
Stanley, 15 

Leycester, Maria, Mrs. Augustus 
Hare, 15, 16 

Leycester, Oswald, Mrs. E. Stan- 
ley's father, 15 

Leycester, Ralph, 261 

Leycesters of Toft, 15 

Leyden, 231, 232 

Libraries, Public, 38 

Liege, 193, 195, 197 

Lille, 146 

Lillo, fort in Holland, 203 

Lind, Jenny, 22 



INDEX 



315 



Lindsay, Lady Charlotte, 236, 240 

Linois, Comte de, 53 

Linz on the Rhine, 192 

Lisbon, 72 

Lisle, 196 

Liverpool, 36, 43, 51 

Liverpool, Lord, 87 

Llandaff, Dean Vaughan of, 19 

Lodi, Battle of, 136 

Loja, in Spain, 60 

London, 81, 82 

Lorich on Rhine, 184 

Louis Buonaparte, King of Hol- 
land, see Buonaparte 

Louis, King of Etruria, 50 

Louis XIV., 306 

Louis XVL, 303 

Louis XVIIL, 78, 106, 107, 150, 
177, 225, 235, 243, 271, 282, 290, 
292, 303-304 

Louisa Stanley, see Stanley 

Louvel, assassin of the Duke de 
Berri, 139 

Louvre, The, 38, 113, 274, 300 

Lowe, Rev. Mr., 223 

Lucien Buonaparte, see Buona- 
parte 

Lucy Stanley, see Stanley 

Lugai, Professor, 232 

Lutzen, Battle of, 170 

Lyne and Co., Lisbon, 72 
Lyons, 40, 42, 43-46, 47 

Macclesfield, Cheshire, 221 
Macdonald, Marshal, Due de 

Tarente, 196, 244 
Macon, 42 
Madrid, 69, 71, 72 
Maine, The River, 182 
Maison, General, " Brise-Maison," 

197 
Malaga, Mole of, 57, 61, 62, 64, 68 
Malines, Mechlin, 201, 202 
Malmaison, 130, 131, 134, 297 



Manchester, 85 
Marcet, Mrs., 78 
Marengo, Battle of, 49, 1 19 
Maria Josepha Holroyd, Lady, see 

Holroyd and Stanley 
Marie Louise, Empress, 74, 240, 

242, 281, 284 
Marlborough, Duke of, biography 

by order of Napoleon, 297 
Marly, Aqueduct of, 133 
Marmont, Marshal, Due de Raguse, 
106, 116-118, 126, 135, 138, 145, 
177 
Marshals, The, 112, 135, 151, 195, 
238, see also under Bessieres, 
Davoust, Berthier, Clarke, Jour- 
dan, Lefebre, Macdonald, Mar- 
mont, Massena, Moncey, Mortier, 
Murat, Ney, Soult, Victor 
Martin, Mr., 122 
Massena, Marshal, Due de Rivoli, 

138 
Mathevs?, Father, 21 
Matthews, Montague, 37 
Maubenge, 271, 278 
Maudesley's engines, 91 
Mausthurm, or Mouse Turret, 184 
Mayence, 146, 159, 180, 182 
McDonald, Captain, 298 
Meaux, 145, 153-156 
Medusa, English frigate, 50 
Melbourne, Lord, 19, 86 
Melun, 145, 146 
" Memorials of a Quiet Life," by 

Augustus Hare, 16 
Meteoric stones, presentation 

sword made from, 93 
Metsu, Gabriel, Dutch painter 

(1615-1658), 38 
Metz, 146, 169, 173-175, 180 
Mieris, Dutch painter (1635-168 1), 

38 
Milton's mnlberry-tree, 40 
Minorca, 67, 70 



316 



BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 



Moncey, Marshal, Due de Corne- 

gliano, 137-139 
Mons, 271-273 
Montmartre, 105, 108, no, 115- 

117, 175 
Montserrat, Lady of, 56 
Mont St. Jean, Waterloo, 262 
Moors, The, 62 
Moreau, General, 76 
Moreau, Madame, 76, 78, go 
Morgan, Lady, 232 
Morritt, Mr., of Rokeby, 87 
Mortier, Marshal, Due de Treviso, 

1, 137, 144 
Moscow, 174 

Moskowa, Prinee de, sec Ney 
Munchausen, Baron, 117 
Murat, Joachim, King of Naples, 

138 
Murrays, The, 285, 290, 297, 298, 

303 
Mutiny at Gibraltar, 66 
Muxham, near Antwerp, 207 

N., erasure of Napoleon's initial 
(1814-1816), 110-300 

Naard, Holland, 220 

Naples, 55, 71 

Naples, the King of, see Murat 

Napoleon, 26, 73-83, 107, 111-113, 
126, 134, 145, 146, 164, 176, 181, 
186, 187, 196, 199, 205, 206, 221, 
223, 235, 242-245, 267-269, 288, 
289, 295 

National Schools, 22 

Nazareth, 151 

Necker, Minister to Louis XVL, 79 

Nelson's Pillar, DubHn, no 

Netherlands, 146, 181, 237, 244 

New Guinea, 18 

New Zealand, 18 

Ney, Marshal, Prince de la 
Moskowa, 137, 299 

Nightingale, Miss, 19 



Nightingale, Dr., at Alderley, 

126 
Nivelle Road, 265, 276 
" Nobles de Campagne," 241 
Norfolk, 20 
Normandy, 46 
North, Lady Catherine, married 

Lord Glenbervie, 191 
North, Hon. F., 191, 236 
North Island of New Zealand, 18 
North Sea, 18 
Norwich, Bishop of, see E. Stanley, 

19-22, 24 
Nottingham Castle, 249 
Novi, Northern Italy, 50 

Oldenburg bonnets, loi, 106, 200 
Oldenburg, Duchess, Catherine of, 

83, 90, 92, 98, 178 
" Ologies," Humorous Sketches by 

E. S., 17 
O'Neil, Miss, actress, 286 
Orange, Prince of, 208, 233, 254 
Orange, Princess of, 231 
Ostadc, Adrien, Dutch painter, 

201 
Ostend, 251, 253, 255, 258, 259 

Palais Royal, 119, 281, 285 
Palmer, Mr., 33 
Pantin, France, 116 
Paris, 29, 31, 33, 34-35, 37-40. 73. 
74, 76, 85, 106, 108, 109, 112-118, 
134. 135. 143. 249, 277, 285 
Parker, Mrs., of Astle, 137 
Parry, Sir Edward, K.C.B., arctic 
navigator, m. Isabella, daughter 
of Sir John Stanley, 254 
Peace, Prince of, see Godoy 
" Peacock at Home, The," 17 
Penrhos, Holyhead, 10 
Perignan, General, 137 
Peter the Great, House of, 226 
Petit, Madame, French actress, 33 



INDEX 



317 



Pevensey, Lord, 248 
Pierre Suisse, ancient castle near 
Lyons, destroyed in the Revolu- 
tion, 45 
Pisa, 51, 52 

Place Buonaparte, Lyons, 43 
Place Belle Cour, Lyons, 43 
Platoff, Russian General, 89 
Poissardes, Havre, loi 
Polytechnique, Ecole, see Ecole 
Pope Pius VIL, 46 
Porto Ferraro, Elba, 46-53 
Potter, Paul, Dutch animal painter 

(1625-1654), 201 
Praams, Flotilla of, at Havre, 
intended for the invasion of 
England, 100 
Prussia, Frederick William, King 
of, 91, 92, 152, 153, 177, 192, 237 
Prussia, Louisa, Queen of, 178 
Pulteney Hotel, London, 85 

" Queen," H.M.S., 23 
Quiverain frontier, France and 
Belgium, 278 

Radnor Mere, at Alderley, 252 
Raguse, Due de, see Marmont 
Rambouillet, Seine et Oise, 74 
Ramsgate, 249 
Raphael, 38, 133 
Rattlesnake, H.M.S., 18, 23 
Recamier, Madame, 33, 126 
Regnaud, St. Jean d'Angely, 

119 
Reign of Terror, The, 26 
Rembrandt, 38, 225 
Revolution, The, 27, 35, 48, 126 
Rheims, 146, 165, 168 
Rhine Castles, 144, 172, 186 
Riddel, Captain, 60 
Rivoli, Due de, see Massena 
Robespierre, Maximilian, 42, 48 
Rokeby, Mr. Morritt, of, 87 



Romainville, 116 

Rome, 55, 71 

Rome, King of, sent to Rambouillet, 

74; in uniform at three years 

old, 141 ; four goat carriages 

ordered for him, 223 
Roncour, Madame, actress, 114 
Ronstan the Mameluke, 152 
Rotterdam, 223, 234 
Rouen, 27, 29, 31, 35, 36, 103, 104, 

105, 120, 253 
Rowland Hill, see Lord Hill 
Royals, the regiment, 67 
Rubens, 38, 205, 274 
Rue Aux Ours, 36 
" Rule Britannia," 99 
Russia, Empress of, 307 
Russia, Emperor of, see Alexander 

Saarbruck, 195 

Saardam, 228 

Saas, 258 

St. Andrew, 281 

St. Andrew's Hall, Norwich, 21 

St. AppoUonius, chapel on the 

Rhine, 188 
St. Avoid, German Lorraine, 178, 

179 
St. Bernard's Pass, 49 
St. Cloud, special residence of 

Napoleon, 140, 306 
St. Denis, 31, 116, 297, 302, 308 
St, Germain, The Terrace, 307 
St. Helena, 266, 269 
St. James' Street, 84 
St. Jean d'Angely, see Regnaud 
St. Jean de Luz, 166 
St. John's, Cambridge, 12, 247 
St. Lawrence, processional figure, 

280 
St. Michel, village near Havre, 

100 
St. Roque, Spain, 65 
Salamanca, Battle of, 279 



318 



BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 



Salvator Rosa, Neapolitan painter 

(1615-1673), 39 
Saumarez, Admiral, 53 
Scheldt, 204 
Scheveningen, fishing village near 

the Hague, 233 
Schwartzenberg, 74, 145 
Scotney Castle, Kent, property of 

E. Hussey, Esq., 25 
Scott, John, 262 
Scott, Sir Walter, 15, 262 
Scovell, Sir George, 247, 279, 283 
Senate, 77, 78 
Serinyer, 240 
Serurier, General, 137 
Seville, 59 
Sheffield, Lady (Lady Anne North), 

191 
Sheffield, John B. Holroyd, First 

Lord, 14. 74, 75, 112, 235, 236, 

240, 242, 245-248 
Sheffield Place, 247 
Shute, surgeon, 42 
Sicard, Abbe, founder Deaf and 

Dumb School, Paris, 298 
Siddons, Mrs., 33 
Skerret, Major-General, 211 
Smith, Sydney, 15 
Soignies, Forest of, 261, 264 
Soissons, 145, 156, 159, 161-163 
Sotheby, Mr. and Mrs., 285, 298, 

300 
Soult, Marshal, Due de Dalmatie, 

74» 138 
South Stack Rocks, Holyhead, 17 
Spain, 26, 55, 59, 63, 66, 69, 239 
Spanish Funds, 239 
Stael, Auguste de, 127 
Stael, Madame de, 76, 78, 79, 97, 

110-112, 125 
Stael, Mademoiselle de, 127 
Stafford, Lord, 113 
Stanley, Sir John, 6th Bart., m. 

Margaret, daughter and heiress 



of Hugh Owen of Penrhos, 1763, 
10 

Stanley, Lady Margaret Owen, 
born 1742, 10 

Stanley, Sir John T., 7th Bart., ist 
Lord Stanley of Alderley, m. 
1796 Lady Maria Josepha Hol- 
royd, daughter of Lord Sheffield, 

15' 

Stanley, Lady Maria Josepha, 15, 
26, 74, 76, 78, 84, 89, 96, 235, 
248, 260, 273, 281, 301 

Stanley, Edward, naturalist and 
ornithologist, son of Sir John 
Stanley, 6th Bart. ; born 1779 ; 
entered St. John's, Cambridge, 
1798 ; wrangler, 1802 ; Rector 
of Alderley, 1805 to 1837 ; Vice- 
President of British Association 
for the Advancement of Science, 
1836 ; Bishop of Norwich, 1837 ; 
died, 1849, 9-24 

Stanley, Mrs, Edward, Kitty, 
daughter of Rev. Oswald 
Leycester, of Stoke upon Tern, 
15, 22, 82 

Stanley, Owen, eldest son of 
Bishop Stanley, 17, 23, 140, 
190, 222 

Stanley, Charles Edward, 2nd son 
of ibid., 19 

Stanley, Arthur Penrhyn, Dean 
of Westminster, 3rd son of 
ibid., 10, 19, 23 

Stanley, Mary, eldest daughter of 
Bishop Stanley, 19 

Stanley, Catherine, 2nd daughter 
of ibid. ; m. C. Vaughan, 
Master of the Temple, and 
Dean of Llandaff, 19 

Stanley, Rianette, daughter of Sir 
John, 7th Bart., and Lady M. J. 
Stanley, 277 

Stanley, Lucy, 2nd daughter of 



INDEX 



319 



- ibid. ; m. Captain Marcus Hare, 

R.N., 264, 305 
Stanley, Louisa Dorothea, 3rd 

daughter of ibid., 249, 250, 293, 

297> 305 

Stanley, Isabella, 4th daughter of 
ibid. J- m. 1826 Sir Edward 
Parry, K.C.B., Arctic Navigator, 
254. 283 

Stanley, Louisa, daughter of Sir 
John T. Stanley, 6th Bart., and 
Margaret Owen of Penrhos : 
m. 1802 Sir Baldwin Leigh ton, 
Bart., 68 

Stanley, Lady Charlotte, daughter 
of 13th Earl of Derby ; m. 
1823 Edward Leycester Pen- 
rhyn, 246 

Stanmer Park, property of Earl of 
Chichester, 243-244 

Stockholm, 170 

Stoke-upon-Tern, Mrs. E. Stan- 
ley's early home, 15, 115 

Strasburg, 182 

Stuart, Sir Charles, afterwards 
Lord Stuart de Rothesay, 105, 
112, 113, 120-122, 160 

Swedenborg, 194 

Sydney, 18 

Sydney, Lord, 86 

Tadmor, Palmyra, 152 

Talleyrand - Perigord, Prince de 
Benevento, French statesman 
and diplomatist, 1754-1838, 
Ambassador to Great Britain 
(1830), 237 

Talma, French tragic actor, 32, 
114, 240, 286-7 

Tangiers, 60 

Tarentum, Due de, see Macdonald 

Tarleton and Rigge, 43 

Tariana, Mediterranean vessel, 57 

Tasmania, 19 



Temple, Paris prison, 31 
Teniers, Dutch painter, 201 , 
Tennant, Mr., 92, 93 
Terror, H.M.S., 18 
Tets von Grondam, Mdme., 229 
Tezart, Paris banker, 36 
Theatres, Paris, 33, 39 
Thuilleries, 37, 113, 121, 135, 304, 

306 
Titian, painter, 38 
Toft Hall, Knutsford, 15 
Toledo, 59 

Tomkinson, Miss, 279 
Toulon, 70 

Tousein, Russian General, 177 
Towers, round towers at Laon, 162 
Trappe, La, Monk of, soldier in 

Napoleon's army, 170 
Treaty of Paris, 146 
Trechschuyt, Dutch barge, 225 
Treviso, Due de, see Mortier 
Trianon, 140, 306 
Troyes, Champagne, 41 
Trueman, Mr., 259 
Tunno, Miss, a brilliant member of 

society, Hved at Taplow Lodge, 

76, 78, 85 
Turin, 49 

Union of England with Ireland and 
Scotland, Napoleon's views, 241 
Utrecht, 221, 224, 228 

Valencia, Spain, 71 

Valenciennes, 278, 282 

Vandyck, 38, 205, 206 

Vauchamps, 145 

Vaughan, Master of the Temple 
and Dean of Llandaff, 19 

Vaughan, Mrs, see Catherine Stan- 
ley, 19 

Vauxhall, 30, 33 

Vendome, Colonne, no 

Vendome Place, 1 10, 292 



320 



BEFORE AND AFTER WATERLOO 



Venice, 240 

Venice preserved, 285 

Ventas, Spanish inns, 58, 62, 65 

Venus de Medici, 114, 132 

Verdun, 146, 168, 169 

Vernet, Antoine Claude, painter 

(i758-i836),38 
Veronese, Paul, 38 
Versailles, 39, 140, 305 
Vetey Malaga, 58 

Vetturino travelling, 25, 40, 47, 49 
Victor, Marshal, Due de Belluno, 

138, 145 
Vienna, Congress of, 112, 235, 237 
Villejuif, near Paris, 149 
Vincennes, Chateau de, 134 
Vittoria, Panorama of, 82 
Vivienne, Rue de, 32, 35 

Waal, river, Holland, 220 
Wagram, Prince de, see Berthier 
Walcheren, 199, 203, 243 
Wales, Princess of, 177 
Waterloo, 133, 199, 246, 247, 260, 
264, 265, 270, 275, 279 



Waterloo, Panorama of, by Barker, 

248 
Wellington, Lord, see Duke of 
Wellington, Duke of, 75, 263, 278, 

280, 283, 291 
Wellington Tree, The, 268 
White's Club, 93, 95 
Wilberforce, William, 128 
Wilbraham, Mr., of Delamere 

Lodge, 285 
Wilson, Sir Robert, 294 
Windlesham, Surrey, 12 
Winnington, Cheshire, property of 

Sir John Stanley, 132 
Winzeiigerode, General, 145, 159 
Woolwich, 91 
Wurtemburg, Crown Prince of, 

116 
Wurtemburg, Prince Eugene of, 

116 



Yankies, 238 
Yarmouth, Lord, 242 
Yorke, Lady Elizabeth, 112 



<yy 



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